Siblings of the Sky
by Carlisle Fan 22
Summary: If you thought having a dragon for a father was tough, try having one for a little brother. Also try having a human adoptive brother that can't seem to keep his nose out of my business! And with the comet just days away I might add. Oh this is going to give me a massive headache before the day is out I just know it.
1. Chapter 1: A New Life

**Disclaimer: Hi guys. Well I'm back with a new story. A sequel to my Daughter of the Sky story, and for those that just found this story, I highly recommend you read that one first before you continue with this one. Now to get the copyright issues over with, I don't own any of the characters from the DragonHeart: A New Beginning movie, except my character Kalias.**

**Now enjoy Chapter 1: A New Life**

* * *

**(Dream Sequence) **

"_You have to do it Kalias. Please help me," Father pleads with me and struggles against the chains that bind him._

_I draw my bow and let the arrow fly. Then I throw the bow down and run to him as the arrow hits his chest._

"_Oh, papa I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"_

_Then I feel myself being lifted by him._

"_It's ok little one," He tells me as he holds me to him, "It was for the best, I'm free now. I will miss you, but you have made me proud my daughter."_

_Then he kisses me on the forehead, sets me down and starts walking towards a light in the sky._

"_No, papa wait! Come back!"_

**(End of Dream)**

* * *

I wake up with a start and pant heavily. I sigh as I run my hands over my face as I sit up. I look to my right and open a drawer in the table next to my bed. I pull out two pictures sitting in there and run my fingers over them. One is a drawing I did of my father, Draco, 40 years ago and the other is a small painting I did of Colt and myself I painted for him for our 1 year anniversary. I remember the day I gave it to him and everything that happened afterwards.

(Flashback)

* * *

I dabbed my finger lightly over the paint to make sure it was dry and it was. I picked it up and smiled as I looked at it. I know Colt told me that he and Ravage had to leave because we were having disputes with the neighboring realms, but I wanted to present it to him before he left. I made my way through the castle to his and my room and saw him packing a bag with his back to me. I smirked at him as an idea formed in my head. I quietly made my way over to him, put the painting down behind me and put my hands over his eyes and his mouth. He flinched at my touch until I spoke to him.

"Hey relax sweetie, it's just me," I playfully said in his ear as I released him and he turned around to face me.

"You are such a sneak Kalias. But that's why I love you," He said as he tapped me on the nose with his finger and gave me a sly smile before pulling me into his arms for a deep kiss. I did my best to hide the painting from him but I didn't do a very good job.

"What's that?"

"Oh, it's just a little something I made for you for our 1 year anniversary," I smiled, picked it up and handed it to him, "Happy Anniversary my love."

"Oh, Kalias this is beautiful. I also have something for you," He kissed me, went to his chest and pulled out a small box, "Happy Anniversary, my heart."

I opened the box and gasped at what was inside. Inside was a beautiful dragon pendant with a crystal in its claws. I sniffled as he pulled it out for me to get a closer look at it. The dragon looked just like father with its wings all spread out. Then he fastened it around my neck.

"I made this myself when we were in training and waited for the right moment to give it to you."

"Oh, Colt you don't know how happy you have made me," I cried and hugged him.

"I wish I didn't have to go, but I am needed," He tenderly said as he held me, "At least this way you have a piece of me with you."

"Do you want to take the painting with you?"

"No, it's better to leave it here. I don't want it to get ruined."

"You be careful, you hear me?"

"I will. I love you."

He left the next day. After a few weeks passed, a messenger came back with news for both Bowen and me. The letter he gave me broke my heart. Colt, Ravage and the others were killed in a surprise attack while coming home. He fought bravely but his opponent was too quick for him and stabbed him in the chest. Lucky for me, Bowen was standing next to me as we read it because my legs gave out and he had to carry me back to our room. Once I was inside and on the bed, I cradled his pillow to me, screamed in anguish and broke down. I cried myself to sleep that night and held our gifts and my father's claw to my chest.

I didn't come out of my room for three months. The servants had to bring my meals to me and had to bring a tub to wash me. One day I woke up and decided to leave the room. After I did, I can to a decision. It wasn't easy but I felt it had to be done. So I made my way to the throne room to talk to Kara and Bowen. Unlike other kings and queens, I didn't have to wait to be summoned by either of them. They always said that their doors were open to those that needed their help.

"Kalias please come in. I am glad to see you decided to come out of your room at last. I also wish to express my humblest condolences for your loss. Colt, Ravage and the others were fierce warriors and he was a great husband to you," Bowen gently said has he held me in his arms.

After my father's death, Bowen and Kara became my new family and took me under their wings. When they adopted me as their daughter, I took to calling them "Pa" and "Mother" when it was just us in private and when we were out in public it was either "Bowen or Sir" and "My Lady". They asked me if I wanted to take the title "Princess Kalias", but I respectfully declined and took the name, "Lady Kalias." I didn't want people to bow to me in the streets as I walked by or to one day rule the land. They complied with my request and now that is what everyone knows me by.

"Is there anything we can do for you," Mother asked me in sympathy.

"No, I'm afraid not," I sadly said to her and took a deep breath, "I came to tell you both that I am leaving."

"What do you mean you're leaving," Pa sternly asked me, then his face softened somewhat, "You don't have to go."

"Yes I do. I love you both, but I need to be alone. I can't live here anymore; the memories are too painful!"

"We understand honey, but where are you going to go? To Brother Gilbert's monastery," Mother asked with sympathy and concern.

"No," I said in disgust, "I mean, I love Brother Gilbert like an uncle to death, but if I went there, then I'd never get a moment's peace with him **talking **me to death. He already does that as it is when we go over father's work."

They chuckled at my joke for a moment before giving me a sad frown. I could tell they weren't going to let me leave without some information about where I was going to be living.

"I am going to move back into father's old fire cave. You do remember how to get there don't you Pa?"

"Yes but are you sure you want to live there? Maybe I should come with you to make sure it is safe."

"Yes I am sure I want to live there," I said with determination, "But I would appreciate it you did."

We decided to head over to the cave to make sure no bandits and the like were camped out in there. Once we thoroughly went over it, Pa deemed it safe for me to live. I started packing my things immediately and after a few days, he and Mother helped me to get settled in. They said they would send someone every week with money to make sure I was properly cared for, and I graciously accepted it .

Since then I have lived here on my own, perfecting my healer's remedies and creative skills. After I moved in, I stumbled across a small box in my father's things with a key attached to it. I opened it and found a note written to me on top a bunch of herbs. The note was from father and it read like this…

_Dear my beloved daughter,_

_By now you are old enough to be trusted with a great secret I have kept for all this years until now. I am gone, but I have left you this letter along with all my knowledge to continue to teach you the Once Ways. Below is a list of ingredients for a self-sustaining potion. When brewed, it gives the drinker long life as long as the drinker continues to make and drink it. _

_A sprig of a willow tree_

_A couple of water reeds_

_The petals of the Yarrow plant_

_Tiger Lily petals_

_Rose pollen_

_And a cup of blueberries, blackberries and sunflower seeds all mashed together._

_(Note you will have to either collect or buy the berries fresh)_

_I trust you will use this knowledge wisely and will never let anyone deceitful get their hands on it. As you can see, all the dried herbs I have already collected for you and placed them in this box for you to make the first potion. All you have to do is follow these instructions to the letter and you will have your potion. _

_Collect the berries and mush them together in a mortar. _

_Then boil some water in a small pot and gently pour the berries in the water. _

_Once they are in there, gently sprinkle the dried herbs a little at a time for this first potion and slowly stir clockwise. You will have to wait for 15 minutes exactly between each pinch. _

_(Note: After this you will have to chop and add the fresh herbs one at a time as it will take some time for the herbs to get used to each other.)_

_Once all the herbs are in the pot move it and let it cool for an hour. By then it will turn a dark blue color and I want you to drink it. The potion will last you for a month. After all of it is gone, you can brew some more if you wish. This is your decision, you can choose to take it and live for a long time or you can live without it. I leave the decision to you, my daughter._

_I love you_

_Sincerely, your loving father, Draco."_

After I finished reading the letter, I looked at the herbs in the box and decide to go ahead and make the potion. I left the cave to gather the blueberries and blackberries. Then I collected some water from the hot spring and put the small pot on a cooking rod I have over a fire pit. It took all day, but just like he said, as soon as it turned dark blue, I drank a cup of it. I expected it to taste bitter, but it surprisingly tasted sweet and as soon as it hit my stomach, I could feel it take effect. It felt like a burst of energy took over my body and I could feel myself shaking. After I took a deep breath, the effects wore off. Then I set to work at cleaning my work-space and locked the letter back in the box. There was no way I was going to let anyone get their hands on this.

(End of Flashback)

* * *

"It has been 40 years since then and I miss you both deeply," I say to the pictures as I get up and put them back in the drawer. I remove my nightgown and the claw necklace and pendant from my neck as I grab a towel and set it on the side of the hot springs. Just like when I was little, I jumped into the hot springs to bath. I relaxed in the water for a bit before I finished my morning bath routine. Unlike last time, I had no problem getting out and wrapped the now warm towel around me. After I dry myself, I pick out my clothes and go to get myself breakfast.

As I eat, I keep thinking about my dream last night. It's been at least a fortnight since I had a dream like that; I thought I was getting better at handling them. But I guess not, maybe drawing will help me to forget it. Whenever, I had a nightmare in the past, drawing and healing others helped take my mind off my troubles. I worked on a landscape painting for a bit, but for some reason, it doesn't seem to be helping me this time.

"Maybe I should go to the castle to talk to Pa about this," I think to myself as I put my supplies up. As I put them back on the shelf, a scroll rolls off and lands at my feet.

"Great," I sigh and gently pick it up, "I wonder what's in this one?"

I unroll it and read the words inscribed on it…

_"A dragon's heart will doom mankind when a two-tailed comet comes in time. Lest the dragon be pure in heart and strong of mind."_

"What? What does that mean?"

I check to see if there is a date of when this was written but there isn't one. All that is written after that is a list of past dates of the comet's sightings. Each have a 70 years difference; the last comet that came was when I was 2 years old.

"Hello, Kalias are you here?"

I hear Pa at the entrance. He has grown old and I could tell he was probably going to join Mother and my husband soon. Mother passed away 5 years ago due to a sickness. I tried to heal her but it was something beyond my power to fix.

"Yes Bowen I am here. Give me a moment," I call out to him as I roll up the scroll and put it back.

I greet him at the entrance with a hug and a kiss on the cheek which he returns. His once blonde beard and hair were now white and slightly tickled my face as he kissed my cheek.

"Ah, Kalias, you look as beautiful as ever. That potion of yours really works wonders doesn't it?"

Yeah, how are you Bowen? Are you well?"

"Just feeling tired and old."

"Are you sure you don't…"

"No," He cut me off, "We've been through this. Draco meant that for you so you could continue your gift for our people. I have lived my life and now I only await the day Kara and I will be together again forever."

"All right, I wouldn't force you. I am glad you came though. To tell you the truth, I was considering coming to visit you. I want to talk to you about something."

"Is it the dreams again?"

"Yes," I sigh and nod my head. By now, he had known me well enough to guess what was on my mind. Sometimes, I swear that old man is a psychic in disguise, "I had another one about father last night. I tried drawing, but it doesn't seem to be helping this time."

"I'm sorry you still feel guilty about what happened. I know you had to do it, but that probably doesn't help matters does it?"

I close my eyes and shake my head.

"Would you like to stay at the castle for a bit? You know you are always welcome there and Ethan would be delighted to see you again."

"He is a sweet boy," I smile and remember Pa and Mother's 12-year-old son. They took him in when it was discovered that Mother couldn't have children. Pa has schooled him the ways of a prince so when Pa passes on, Ethan would become the next king, "Well, maybe you're right. I could use the company."

I smile at him and went to pack a few books and clothes to take with me, including the prophesy scroll. As we start to leave, I feel the ground rumble beneath my feet. Pa pulls me to him as we cling to a stone pillar and wait for it to stop. I hear rocks breaking all around me and the steam vent bursting through the ground until it finally stops. Slowly Pa loosens his grip on me and something catches my eye. Through a crack in the right wall, I can see something shining. I go to the wall and start pulling the rocks from it.

"Kalias what are you doing?! I don't think pulling rocks off the walls so soon after an earthquake is wise. You could cause this whole cave to come down on top of us!"

"Bowen there's something here! Help me dig it out!"

He sighs and sets to work pulling stones that aren't too heavy for him away from the wall. I pull out a few more and after pushing some roots away, I can't believe my eyes. Nor can Pa judging by the look on his face. Before us, shining like the moon is a dragon egg.

"Did you know about this?"

"Nuh, uh Father told me many things, but he never mentioned anything about having an egg stored here! I wonder if the hatchling is alive in there."

I place my hand and ear on the egg to check. Answering my question, I feel something thump against it.

"Well that answers that question. Hey Kalias are you ok?"

I cover my mouth with my hand and back away from it. This is just too much of a coincidence, first I find a scroll foretelling man's doom with the form of a dragon's heart and now I find a dragon egg that looks like it's going to hatch soon.

"Bowen, I need to show you something."

I go over to my bag, pull out the scroll and show it to him.

"I found this right before you got here. Look, read what it says," I say to him as I pointed it out to him.

"You tell me that this may be the dragon this scroll talks about?"

"I don't know. I mean, we won't know until it hatches. And I just hope that the hatchling is like our father."

"I don't think the egg should stay here."

"Why? Father raised me here till I was 4 and I can do the same for the hatchling."

"Remember the earthquake that happened not a few moments ago. What if there is another one? Then you and the baby will be buried under a pile of rocks. No, I really think you should move from here."

"Bowen," I start to say until he cut me off again.

"Kalias, I don't want to pull the father or king rank on you for this, but if that is the only way to get you to move; I will."

"Pa," I playfully say to him, "All I was going to say is 'you're right.' As much as it pains me to leave this place again, this place really isn't the safest place to raise a baby. I don't want anything to happen to my little brother or sister, so I agree with you."

"Thank you Kalias, now we have to find a safe place to hide you two. There's no telling how people will react if they see a dragon after, well, after Draco died and was supposed to be the last one."

"Now I know why he smiled at me like that. Before he died, he gave me a proud understanding smile. At first, I thought it was because I helped 'free him' but now, it's like he knew I would find this egg eventually and would take care of it for him."

"Well we can't take it to the castle. The moment the baby hatches, someone's bound to notice it. Do you think Brother Gilbert and Friar Peter would be willing to take you both in?"

"Yes I believe so. At this point, that's the only place I can think of that's safe enough for the baby."

"Well let's finish packing your things so we can move as fast as possible."

"No we have to get the egg to the monastery now. And I have faster way of packing. Watch"

I say the words and in an instant, all of father's knowledge and my things shrink. With a wave of my hand, all the items float into my satchel bag. As I picked it up, Pa stood there with a surprised look on his face. I hope for his sake, his heart doesn't give out on him.

"How did you do that? I knew you were skilled in healing, but I didn't know you were skilled in magic as well."

"It was in one of father's scrolls. Remember how I told you there were some scrolls and books I was not to read yet? This shrinking spell was in there along with the levitation spell. It's very handy when moving, now that we have that taken care of; let's get this egg to the monastery."

Pa and I wrapped the egg in blankets and water sacks full of the hot springs water to keep it warm. It takes us two hours to get to there, but we finally made it. I knock on the door and soon one of the monks answers the door.

"Hello is Brother Gilbert or Friar Peter here? We need to speak with them."

"Yes they are both here Lady Kalias. May I ask what the reason is for this visit?"

"Tell him it's an urgent personal matter please."

"Very well, if you will both come with me, I will show you to the chapel. There you will wait until I return with them."

We follow the monk through the small courtyard to the chapel. I noticed several other monks and novices watching us as we passed by with the egg. Pa had suggested shrinking the egg to avoid suspicion but I refused. I told him before we came here that shrinking inanimate objects, such as father's books and such is not the same thing as shrinking a living thing. I didn't want to take the chance of hurting the hatchling in any way should something go wrong.

It didn't take long for the monk to return with Brother Gilbert and Friar Peter in tow.

"Bowen, Kalias how wonderful it is to see you both again," Brother Gilbert greeted us with a hug, "You are looking as lovely as ever Kalias. Draco would be proud of how you have grown."

"It's good to see you both," Friar Peter nod and asked with a serious expression, "But why have you come? Nathan said it was urgent you speak to both of us."

"Kalias and I made a discovery in Draco's old fire cave," Bowen says to them as we pull back the blankets to show the egg.

"It seems that Draco and the Scarred One bore an egg and hid it in the cave before either one of them died," I explained to them.

"But if you did just discover it, then why did you bring it here?"

"Because of two reasons, one there was an earthquake and the rocks fell away from the wall and that's how we found it. If there was a possibility of it happening again, I didn't want the egg or myself to be buried under a pile of rubble. And two is this."

I showed them the scroll and a spark of understanding flashed on their faces as they read it and look at the egg.

"I see, so you brought it here for protection," Brother Gilbert says as he places a hand on the egg, "I see no reason not to offer it sanctuary, what do you say Peter?"

"If it will keep the hatchling's heart pure to have it live here away from temptation, I will also agree to offer it sanctuary until the comet passes."

"I would like to live here as well Brother Gilbert, Friar Peter," I politely request, "This way I can also help raising the hatchling. He or she is the only member of my previous family I have left and I believe that it was Draco's wish that I should raise him or her should something happen to either him or the mother."

"Well I see no reason to separate you two," Friar Peter smiles and places a hand on my shoulder, "You may live here with us."

"Thank you Friar Peter, I promise not to be a burden on the church. I can continue my healer's duties and reading my father's work if that is ok with you."

"That sounds like a fair arrangement to me. Now about where the child will live, this monastery has an old dungeon that hasn't been used since this place was a castle. We could make it up as a cave and make sure he or she doesn't leave until the comet passes."

"Is that fair to the hatchling? Imagine being locked underground and forbidden from ever coming outside," Bowen argued with him, "Are you sure that is the best thing for the little one?"

"Bowen, if this dragon turns out not to be evil, then the possibility that he or she could be manipulated to do something evil still exists. With him or her being so young, they are easy to give into temptation and persuasion," Friar Peter argued back and as much as I hate to; I had to agree with him.

"I see your point," Bowen calmly said still having a frown on his face, "I am just a little uncomfortable with keeping a child locked in their room forever claiming 'it's for their own good.'"

"Bowen it wouldn't be forever," Brother Gilbert says as he looks up from the scroll, "Just until the comet passes, which by my calculations should be in about 20 years from now. All we have to do is keep the child hidden and safe until then and after that, they are free to live their life however they please."

"All right well now I guess we should check out this dungeon of yours and see what needs to be done to make it comfortable for the hatchling."

"Afterwards, Brother Gilbert and I will go over my father knowledge to see if there's anything that can tell us about raising a hatchling," I say to Bowen as we recover the egg and follow Friar Peter to the dungeon. Brother Gilbert stayed behind to watch the egg.

There is a gate that leads to it that can only be opened by a key. Friar Peter gets out said key and leads us inside. He lite a torch and showed us the way. From dead kings in the walls I saw as we passed by, this place also functioned as a catacomb. After we pass them, we come to a staircase which he leads us down. I follow him up a few stairs and down some more to a huge room. Judging by the chains and shackles on the walls, this must be the place where they kept the prisoners. Friar Peter went to the walls to check something and from what I could tell; they appeared to be oil lamps.

"Well, we'll have to refill them, but I think these lamps will work out perfectly and, with the addition of a few candles here and there, should provide enough light."

"We should get rid of all these chains and shackles first and then give this place a good cleaning before we move anything down," I suggest as I look through a grate, "Is this the only place where any sunlight can be seen?"

"No, there are several windows, but they have been bored up for years. That grate used to be bored up, but we recently removed them to air the place out."

"I think it would be best if we keep it that way. I mean the grate is high enough that it should give some daylight and the hatchling shouldn't see anything but the sky."

"What about when winter comes," Pa asks in concern, "You know it snows here, what if snow should drift in through the grate and the child grows curious about where it came from?"

"We could install shutters and have it closed during that time," Friar Peter suggests, "Then when winter is over, we will simply open them up again."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Bowen, I don't wish to be rude, but shouldn't we get you home. I will walk with you back to the castle."

"Well all right, lucky for me it is just on the other side of the monastery. Thank you Kalias and good day to you Friar Peter."

"Good day."

After I walk Pa to the castle, I return to my new home to get it ready for the hatchling. While we were busy, the egg stayed in Brother Gilbert's quarters. After three days of labor, the dungeon was scrubbed clean from top to bottom. I informed Pa that it was done and he sent his servants to give all sorts of old bedding and pillows for us to use for the hatchling's bed. I got some material and made some curtains to help brighten the place up. We even moved some shelves and a desk in there so I could spend most of my time there and to store father's work. Pa also gave us some oil for the lamps and some tall candelabras. After all the lamps and candles were lite; the dreary dungeon was transformed into a cozy makeshift cave. Then we carefully moved the egg to its bed and waited for it to hatch. Friar Peter also let me have a room to myself in the church, though I preferred staying down there with the egg.

It has been two days since we moved the egg and it hasn't shown any signs of hatching apart from the usual squeaks I hear from it. I found a book about dragons and am reading about the hatchlings. It says that the female dragons will find small game for the young one to feed on and will move it as close to the hatchling as possible. When the hatchling first hatches, it can't walk, see or hear for the first week of its life. It most interacts through smell and will instantly bond with the first living thing it smells. Right as I finish that sentence, I hear a thump and a crack sound coming from the egg. I close the book and run out the door to Friar Peter's office, praying he is there and as I come through the door, I see him talking to Brother Gilbert.

"Come quick, it's hatching," I quickly say and run back to the dungeon. I paused only for a second to grab some meat from the kitchen for the little one and headed back. Brother Gilbert and Friar Peter quickly follow me and as we got there, a tiny claw bursts its way through the shell. The little one pokes its head out and after some work, it broke the rest of the egg to pieces. Its eyes are closed just like it said in the book and the poor thing is shaking from the air hitting its soft scales. It isn't very big, just the size of a cat, but I can't help crooning and crying tears of happiness as I hold up my hand to its nose. It smells me for a minute, getting used to my scent and start trying to make its way over to me.

"Oh he is so cute," I say as he falls on his side and whines as he tries to wiggle over to me.

"He? How do you know it's a boy," Brother Gilbert asks me in curiosity.

"There's a mark on his underbelly," I told him as I carefully pick up the little one and cradle him in my arms, showing his belly, "See, that little white claw mark there? Well, father told me years ago that all male dragons have that when they are born and later when they shed their scales and grow, it fades. Female dragons don't have that."

"Oh, I never knew that, interesting. So have you thought of a name for this little fellow?"

"Yes, his name will be Drake after our father," I tell them as I hold a small piece of meat before his mouth. He sniffs it for a minute and snatches it out of my hand. I continue this as Friar Peter goes to speak to me.

"I can't think of a better name for the child. Let's just pray that he also shares the same qualities of Draco," He says as he pets Drake on the head. Drake looks up, sniffs his hand for a minute and nuzzles it.

"Only time will tell Friar Peter," I say as Drake yawns and buries his head in my chest, "Only time will tell."

**Author's Note: Well there you have it, Chapter 1. I hope it was a good first chapter for you guys. So now Kalias has a new little brother to take care of and with the two-tailed comet coming and a prophecy looming over her head. Will she be able to protect young Drake and the rest of the world until it passes? Here's hoping she will. **

**Please remember to review the chapter and let me know by either PM or review what you think or any ideas you have for the next chapter. My door is always open to suggestions. ;D**


	2. Chapter 2: Brothers

**Disclaimer: Hey guys I'm back with another chapter for you guys just in time for Memorial's Day. Oh, just to let you know, that potion I wrote about in my last chapter, I made it up so let's not have anyone try to make it and get sick shall we? Anyway same as Chapter 1, I am only borrowing the characters from DragonHeart: A New Beginning, I sadly don't own them, except Kalias. She's mine, now enjoy Chapter 2.**

* * *

"Come on Drake come this way," I say to my little brother.

He playfully growls and tries again to come to me but, like last time, he falls on his side. He snorts and stamps his paw in frustration before plopping his head on his paws, "Ok calm down Drake. I'll show you again."

It's been 2 and half weeks since he hatched and by now his eyes and his ear holes have opened. He and I have really bonded and I can see some of our father in him. If nothing else, he clearly has his frustration face down pat. Whenever father was frustrated about something, he would act just like Drake did. I always thought it was funny and would tease him about it.

Drake even sort-of looks like him, well with the exception of the dark green scales around his head, down his spine to his tail and his wings. That he got from the Scarred One as she too was covered in those same scales. The rest of him was clearly similar to our father; he even has his golden eyes too.

"Ok Drake, are you listening to me," I ask him. He frowns, looks up at me and slowly nods his head. He can't speak yet, but he understands the words, "Now watch. First, you stand up on your legs, and then you put one paw forward. Next, you do the other one and finally, you do the same with your back legs. See? Like this."

I demonstrate for him and then I hear an annoying sound behind me. I turn around and see him rolling on the ground laughing at me.

"Ok you little lizard," I smirk and say to him, "I know I look silly walking like this but trust me. This is how you are supposed to walk. Now try it again."

When he finished laughing, he stood up on his legs. They wobble a bit but he manages to keep his balance.

"Ok great, now like I told you, put one paw forward."

He does and does the same with his other paw and his back ones. He continues for a bit and finally stops to shake his tail and smile at me.

"Yes, just like that, you got it!"

"Kalias, are you down here?"

"Yes, Brother Gilbert come quick!"

"What?! What is it," He shouts as he runs and stumbles down the stairs.

"Drake's walking! Look, Drake go to him!"

He looks from me to Brother Gilbert and slowly starts making his way towards him. He gets about half way there and his front paw slips and he falls right on his face. He whimpers as he shakes his snout and sits down in a huff.

"Oh it's ok Drake," Brother Gilbert says as he picks him up, "Everyone stumbles when they are learning how to walk. I'll tell you a secret, I also have trouble walking and I'm an adult and have two feet. But I don't let it get me down so you shouldn't either."

"He's right Drake, no one is perfect," I tell him as I pet him on the head, "Do you want to try again?"

He shakes his head and squirms to be let down. Brother Gilbert sets him down on his bed and Drake rests his head on a pillow.

"Oh Kalias, I was coming to tell you that Friar Peter wants to speak to you."

"All right, will you watch him until I get back?"

"Absolutely."

"Thanks," I say to him as I head for the door.

I wonder what Friar Peter wants to see me for. I knock on his door and he calls for me to enter.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I wanted to see how Drake is doing. Last I heard he had opened his eyes and could hear."

"Yes, and he just now started learning how to walk. He also shows that he can understand words and acknowledges me when I tell him to do something and not to do something."

"Anything else? How's his temperament?"

"He's very sweet and bright. He was a little frustrated when he was walking; he kept falling and he did snort a couple of time, but Brother Gilbert and I talked to him and he calmed down. He truly is like how our father used to be; I remember when he was frustrated about something, he would act just like Drake does."

"That's good to hear. I'll be down later to see him."

"Ok, well I should be getting back to work. One of the novices was complaining about a toothache so I told him I would make him some medicine to rub on his teeth to make the pain go away."

I left the office to head for Drake's room. When I got there, Brother Gilbert was at the desk reading and Drake was curled fast asleep.

"Brother Gilbert, I'm going to be busy for the rest of the day, could you continue to watch him for me?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to."

"Thanks."

All day long I've been busy treating all kinds of problems. From small ones, little a scrapped knee to big ones, like an illness and broken bones. The life of a healer is never done. By the time I am finish, I am so exhausted I just fall on Drake's bed with him and fall asleep right there.

* * *

**(5 Years Later)**

"Ok what does this sentence say?"

"'The sun shined through the clouds.'"

"Good, that's right Drake. At this rate you'll have the book finished in no time."

"Thanks Kalias. Reading is a lot harder than I thought. Thanks for teaching me."

"Hey what kind of sister would I be if I didn't take the time to teach my little brother how to read," I tease and nudge him.

By now Drake has grown to the size of a Great Dane. He started talking when he was 4 years old and after the speaking lessons, he asked me to teach him how to read. He is now starting to read chapter books and I guess it won't be too long before he doesn't need my help with that anymore.

"Kalias?"

"Yeah?"

"You said you're my sister, but are you sure?"

"What do you mean am I sure? Of course I'm your sister. Why would you ask something like that?"

"Well, we don't look the same. I mean, you have fur on your head, I have horns and you have 4 fingers and a thumb and I only have 3 and a thumb. Plus my claws are longer and sharper than yours."

"Drake I want to show you something."

I bring him over to a mirror and have him sit down next to me.

"Look at that mirror and tell me what you see."

"I see scales on my face, horns on my head and sharp teeth. I also have wings on my back. And, oh, Kalias how can we be siblings, we're too different. Look at me!"

He closes his eyes and lowers his head as he turns away from the mirror and me. I sigh and turn him to face the mirror again.

"I am looking at you Drake and do you know what I see?"

He frowns and shakes his head.

"I see one, two eyes like mine," I point and count, that got him to smile a bit, "And a nose somewhere, oh it's right there."

He laughs a bit as I tap him on the nose.

"And a chin," I tease and tickle him a bit under there. He laughs and tries to get away, but I caught him and pulled him to me, "And a belly."

"Ok, ok stop that tickles!"

I laugh as I sit up and look at him.

"Now let's see, what else?"

"Two paws," He asks as he lifts his front paws to show me.

"In a way, yes," I say as I touch his paws with my hands.

He looks at his paws and then at my hands and sadly sighs. I think that soon I will have to tell him the truth about who and what he is. But for now, I need to focus on getting him to realize that we are siblings even if we look different. I put my hand under his chin to get him to look at me.

"Close your eyes, now forget what you see," I tell him and put his paw to his chest, "What do you feel?"

"My heart," He says after a moment and opens his eyes.

"Come here," I tell him and pull his head to my chest.

"I hear your heart."

"See, they're the same. We may look a bit different on the outside, but in here," I point to my heart and his, "We are the same. And that's why you and I are brother and sister. I love you Drake."

"I love you too," He says as he hugs me, which I return.

* * *

**(12 years later)**

Drake keeps getting bigger and bigger every day. By now he's the size of a horse. It seems like only yesterday he was a tiny little hatchling. He's really grown up in more ways than one.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Kalias I swear I'll be fine. Besides I heard from Friar Peter that the church is low on apples, so go pick some. I'd do it myself, but I'm not allowed outside," He stubbornly says and starts shoving me towards the door, "But since you can, you go do it."

"All right Drake. You sure you're okay being by yourself?"

"Yes," He annoyance and growls at me.

"Ok just checking. Remember Drake no going outside."

"I remember now go," He says and swats at me with his tail.

"All right, all right, I'm going." I chuckle, "I'll be back later with dinner ok?"

"Ok."

I smile at him one more time and head for the door. I head to the kitchen and grab a basket. As I head towards the gate, I stop to see Friar Peter talking to a boy named Mansel.

"Good day Friar Peter, Mansel," I greet them, Mansel's eyes widen and he lowers his eyes.

"Good day Lady Kalias," He softly says to me.

"Good day Lady Kalias," Friar Peter greets me and turns to Mansel, "Mansel you can go about your chores now."

"Yes sir," He bows his head and does the same to me, "Good bye Lady Kalias."

"He's a sweet boy. A little shy maybe, but very polite," I say to Friar Peter as we watch him leave.

"Yes he is, and very kind too. Good to see you out of the dungeon Kalias."

"Yeah, Drake insisted that I collect apples for you. Something about there being a shortness of them in the kitchen I believe is what he told me. But I secretly think that was his way of getting rid of me."

"Well he is right about there being an apple shortage in the kitchen, but I also believe he was trying to find some way of getting you out. Kalias, I hate to tell you this but you do have a tendency to hover over him. Please remember that he is a dragon and normally, dragons his age would be out of the nest by now and exploring their territories with their parents. Since we won't allow him to get away from his nest, the only way he feels the need get some time to himself is to make the parents get away, namely you and me."

"I see your and his point. I'll talk to him about me not being around him so much except at meal times ok?"

He smiles and lets me go about my business. An apple orchard grows not far from the monastery. Actually it grows right between the monastery and the castle so everyone is welcome to share in its bounty as long as there is enough fruit left over for the orchard to reproduce the following year.

I look up at the delicious red globes hanging from the branches and start picking. After a bit, the weight of the basket starts to hurt my arm, so I set it on the ground to continue picking. I pick two apples and as I go to put them in the basket, I notice something.

"I could have sworn I had 10 apples in here, oh, well maybe I just miscounted," I say to myself as I counted 8 apples in my basket. I set the 2 apples in my hands in the basket and go to pick some more. Just like last time, there are apples missing from my basket, only this time half of them are gone and I could have sworn I heard footsteps.

"Hmm," I say as I look around and saw something. Sticking out of a bush is a child's shoe. I smirk and silently chuckle to myself.

"Wait a minute, what am I thinking?! Why am I wasting time picking these apples when the really juicy ones are on that tree over there," I say out loud and move to it. I can hear someone coming up behind me, but I just ignore them and move to a green apple tree. I set my basket down, pick 2 apples off the tree and set them on top of the red ones in my basket. Right as I turn my back, I turn around and come face-to-face with a little boy with dirty curly hair. I catch his arm and he screams. He tries to kick me, but I manage to catch his leg with my other hand.

"Hey let me go lady," He rudely says as he forms a small fist and tries to punch me.

I let go to avoid getting hit and he twists around and lands on his stomach with his face in the dirt.

"That's not fair," He angrily shouts and wipes his face. I could see a few tears escape down his face.

"Would it have been fair for me to let you hit me," I ask him as I pull out a handkerchief and hand it to him.

"No I guess not," He sniffles, wipes his eyes and nose and pouts as he sits up, "I'm sorry. I'm just hungry Miss and I'm too little to reach the apples. So I thought when I saw you getting them down that you wouldn't miss a few of them."

"You could have asked me. I would have gotten some down for you."

"Whenever, I ask anyone for help they usually take one look at me and yell 'Get away from me you filthy brat' and sometimes they hit me before I even have the chance to ask them for anything."

"Well I can tell you now that I am not going to hit you. What's your name little boy?"

"My name is Geoff. What's yours?"

"Kalias. When was the last time you ate?"

"Three days ago and that's because I stole a loaf of bread that was cooling in the window from some house."

"Why have you been stealing? I don't think that your parents would be proud of you going around stealing things."

"I don't have any parents. They died when I was really little."

"You don't have anyone to look after you? No kin whatsoever?"

"No and it's no big deal. I can take care of myself," He stubbornly tries to convince me. Unfortunately, I can see the hurt clearly in his eyes and it breaks my heart.

I sigh as I take a good look at him. His clothes are rags and with how skinny he is, they barely are hanging off him. His whole body is covered in filth and so is his hair. From what little I can make out of it, it looks like he has blonde hair. I can't just let him go off by himself like he has been. The next person that should spot him would alert the authorities and stick him in a dungeon cell.

"Geoff, if you would like, you could come with me to where I live and I'll get you some good food and a place to stay."

"You don't need to feel sorry for me. I'm fine," He tries to be mad at me but his face soften as I see him eyeing my basket of apples, "But if you could let me have some of those apples, I would really appreciate it."

"Sure, help yourself."

No sooner did I say that, when he dived right into the basket. 4 apples later, he was wiping the juice off his face with the handkerchief I gave him.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, thank you. I haven't eaten like that since forever. Well, I better be heading home, thanks again Kalias," He says as he gets off the ground and gathers a few more apples in his shirt. I stop him and look him in the eye.

"Geoff, are you sure you don't want to accept my offer? The place where I live offers food and shelter to anyone that asks for it. And I'm sure you've learned by now that not everyone will be as nice to you as I am."

He looks at me for a moment and I could tell by his face that he's thinking about what I just said. I hope for his sake that he will decide to come home with me. If it hadn't been for Father, I probably would have been just like Geoff is or dead. All he needs is someone to look out for him like I had all those years ago.

"Well, sure I'll come with you. You are right, even if my parents were alive, they wouldn't want me to be stealing and I didn't want to but it was the only way I knew how to live."

"Not anymore, it's not and I'll take care of you, I promise."

He smiles at me as he takes my hand attempting to help me up. He and I spend the rest of the day together picking apples until we got a full basket of them. He tries to be sweet and pick up the basket for me, but it's too heavy for him. So I have him hold out his arms and carry some of the apples for me as we head back to the monastery.

* * *

**(20 years later)**

It's almost time, the comet is supposed to come in 5 days. Geoff is now 16 years old and works in the stables as a stable boy. Though he often dreams of becoming a knight and is a very ingenious young man. In the middle of the stables, he made a mannequin to practice his sword fighting. I will admit I was half tempted to pick up one of the wooden swords he made and try it out, but I remembered my vow to never pick up another weapon for as long as I live. I told him that he could work on his skills after his chores for Friar Peter are done, but he seems to be spending more time doing that instead of cleaning like he's supposed to. I told him that the next time I catch him practicing instead of working that I was doing to take that dummy of his apart. That seemed to get him to stop for a while but I'll bet he's been secretly practicing behind my back. That's ok, I'll catch him in the act one of these days, he knows by now that I always make good on my promises.

Drake has grown into a fine young dragon. He and Geoff have never met before and I plan to keep it that way for the next few days at least. After that, then I'll consider taking Geoff to meet my other brother. I made sure to visit Drake every day, but like I promised I also gave him his space when he needed it. I told him the truth about what he is years ago, about him being a dragon and me being a human. He took it rather well; in fact, I also told him about my self-sustaining potion and started teaching him the Once Ways that our father taught me. I purposely left out his blending abilities, flying and breathing fire until the comet passes. Now he is taller than I am by 3 feet. My head just reaches his shoulder and I'm 5"4'.

Brother Gilbert and King Bowen passed away years ago. Prince Ethan became king shortly afterwards. He tried to convince me to take the throne with him since technically I am the eldest, but I politely refused him, which he accepted graciously. Friar Peter has grown very old and I'm sure he won't be here for much longer. In fact, he told me that he had given Mansel permission to help me take care of Drake. A few days ago we introduced him to Drake and the moment he saw him, he fainted. But after a couple of days, he got used to being around Drake. Drake was delighted to see a new face but was a little shy at first. Now they are like best friends.

I just finish cooking Drake's meal and call for Mansel.

"Yes Lady Kalias, you called for me?"

"Mansel, I have to gather herbs for that potion I told you about so can you give this to Drake for me and tell him I'm sorry I can't make it for lunch today?"

"Of course."

"Oh, and here, you can borrow my key until I get back," I say as I hand him the cauldron and start to get my key out for him.

"Oh that's not necessary. Friar Peter already gave me his to use."

"Oh ok well thank you for doing this for me Mansel. I really appreciate it."

"I'm happy to help. It's not every day that I get a new task to do for Friar Peter or you."

"Now remember Mansel, you are not to breathe a word to anyone about Drake, especially to Geoff. I have a hard enough time as it is keeping that curious nose of his away from there."

"I understand," He says as he turns and leaves.

Now to make sure Geoff is doing his chores before I leave. I grab my basket, some shears and a small shovel and start walking towards the gate. I see him looking over the wall and I go over to him. Passing by are several knights and squires in red tunics with gold trim riding by on horses. The last one is a little older than Geoff but not by much. He looks up at us; his eyes went from Geoff to mine. He smiles and bows his head slightly at me before leaving with the others.

"Wishing to be one of them won't get the stables clean faster Geoff," Friar Peter says to him as he comes up behind us.

"Where do you suppose they're going all dressed up like that?"

"They're going to the castle. The king is swearing-in Lord Osric as his new chief adviser today. Maybe with his help, our king will finally be able to regain his senses."

"Kalias," Geoff asks and turns to me, "You're one of the best healers in the land. Isn't there anything you can do for him?"

"Sadly no," I admit because honestly I don't know what has happened to King Ethan lately, "He used to be a brilliant man, but lately his mind seems to be in a daze and it's like he's off in another world of his own. Nothing I have tried has worked on him. It's beyond my power to help and it's so frustrating!"

"Calm down Kalias. It's ok," Peter calmly says to me as he puts his hand on my shoulder to comfort me, "You can't be expected to heal every one, you know that."

"I know," I sigh and pick up my things, "It's just so frustrating wanting to help him, but being powerless to do anything. Geoff, you are going to be in trouble if that stable isn't clean by the end of the day."

"I promise the stables will be as clean as the abbot's table before Mass. And if you or Friar Peter will open that door," He says and points to the door leading to Drake's room, "I will also clean that old dungeon for you. You seem to spend a lot of time there, so let me take over for you so you can heal more people."

Peter and I look at each other and then back at Geoff. I arch my eyebrow and cross my arms at him while Peter shakes his head and pulls Geoff towards the stables.

"I'll tell you a secret about that dungeon Geoff," Peter softly says to him. He leans in closer to listen, "There's nothing in there that can help you to become a knight. You are a good boy and you have a good heart. If you work hard and try a little humility, you'll be a fine Stables Master someday."

Disappointment quickly shows on his face, but he politely nods his head. As I watch Peter leave, I hear Geoff softly say, "I'll be out of here before I'm any kind-of stable master."

"Geoff get back to the stables and forget about the dungeon," I say, turn him and gently start pushing him all the way there, "I expect at least half of it to be done when I get back. And don't forget the corners this time ok?"

"Ok sis," He sighs as I hand him a pitchfork and pat him on the shoulder.

Half an hour later, I return to the monastery with the herbs to make my monthly self-sustaining potion. I start heading for my place when I notice something out of the corner of my eye. I back up and had to do a double-take to make sure I was imagining it but I found I wasn't. Mansel is in the stables doing Geoff's job and I don't see Geoff anywhere helping.

"Mansel, what are you doing?"

"Repenting for my sins," He replies as he continues working.

"What? What sin could you have possibly done within the last hour?"

"I may have been a bit prideful earlier and Geoff let me do this so I could keep my soul humble."

"Really," I skeptically ask as I cross my arms, dying to hear this one, "What happened in the last half hour I left?"

"Well I had just come out of Drake's room and Geoff saw me. When he questioned why I was carrying Friar Peter's old cauldron around, I told him that Friar Peter and you had given me a new secret chore to do."

"You didn't tell him what it was didn't you," I ask, fearing the worse, "Please tell me you didn't!"

"No, I told him that was the point, that it was a secret," He calmly said and that reassured me, but it still didn't answer my question as to how Mansel was doing Geoff's work, "Well, he said that a new chore given by both you and him was pretty special and that I should take some pride in it. Well I did for a moment, until he pointed out that pride is one of the 7 Deadly Sins. Then he let me clean the stables."

"Mansel, I have to ask, where is Geoff? And do you still have the key that Friar Peter gave you," I smirk at him and thought, "Very clever little brother of mine."

"He just left and the key is right here," He says and feels the tie on his robe. Panic clearly starts showing on his face as he feels all over his robe for it, "It's gone!"

"Mansel, Geoff tricked you and stole the key from you when you weren't looking."

The look on Mansel's face reminds me of a fish. His eyes are wide and he keeps opening and closing his mouth, but no sound comes out of it. Normally I would be laughing at this point, if the situation wasn't serious. I need to find Geoff now.

"I'll take care of this. You go about your normal duties."

I storm out of the stable and head for the dungeons.

"Geoff, if you're where I think you are, then you are going to be in big trouble buster,"

**TBC**

* * *

**Author's Note: Duh, duh duh! How many of you think that Geoff is going to die when Kalias gets her hands on him. Raise your hands if you think so. HAHAHA, boy I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now. This is all she needs. Will she be able to keep Drake safe with the comet coming in just 5 days, we can only hope. Please remember to review below and I will see you in the next chapter. :D**


	3. Chapter 3: A Secret Revealed

**Disclaimer: Hi guys glad to see you are enjoying my story. Kalias certainly has her hands full taking care of two brothers. Let's see how she will handle it when they meet. As always, I only own her and not the other characters from DragonHeart: A New Beginning.**

* * *

"Geoff, if you try anything, you are going to be in big trouble," I think to myself as I start heading for Drake's room.

I get there right as Geoff is about to put the key in the lock, come up behind him and clear my throat. He spins around in shock and tries to hide the key while smiling at me.

"Very clever Geoff, that was a very ingenious trick you did to Mansel to get him to do your job for you," I tell him as I firmly grab his arm and start pulling him to my place, "Since you seem to have so much time on your hands, you can help me sort through herbs."

"Aw man."

"Oh and I'll want that key back."

"What key? Ow! Ow," He asks and exclaims as I start dragging him by his ear.

"Don't get smart with me," I raise my voice as I slightly tug on his ear and hold out my hand, "I know you took it from Mansel, so come on. Give it!"

"Ok, ok here," He cries and drops it in my hand, "Now let go, that hurts!"

"That's the idea," I say as I release him, "That's what happens to nosy little brothers that are poking their noses in places they shouldn't. They get their ears pulled by their older sisters."

"Ow, I thought you were a nun and not allowed to resort to physical violence," He grumbles as he rubs his ear.

"You know I'm not that kind of sister. But I am yours, which gives me rights to do that to you. Now once you are finished helping me, you are going to clean those stables and this time, I'm going to watch."

He starts to open his mouth to object; but closes it when he sees my "don't argue with me" face.

We finish our work in my shop and he even helped me make my potion. Once we clean the place up, I lead him to the stables and watch him, like I said I would, clean every inch of the place. I even show a little mercy and help him lay down fresh hay for the animals. Once it is clean, we head for the tubs to clean ourselves.

On the way there, I see two foreign people coming through the gate with an ox-pulled cart. It is covered with all sorts of decorations and some writing of some sort. The symbols must be from their native country.

"Excuse me young lady," The older of the two politely asks me, "My name is Master Kwan and this is my son."

The son in question bows to me, which I politely return and elbow Geoff to do so.

"Hello, my name is Lady Kalias and this is my brother Geoff. How can I help you?"

"We are new to these lands and I was wondering if you could direct us to Friar Peter. We have things we wish to discuss with him."

"Well you came to the right place, I'll be happy to show you to his office," I say to him and turn to Geoff, "Geoff you go get clean up while I take our guests to Friar Peter. Ok?"

He nods and gives me a quick hug before I watch him head to the bathroom.

"Now if you will please follow me. Oh, and you can tie your cart up over there," I say and point to the hitching posts by the stables.

"Thank you," He says to me and talks to his son in his native language. He nods his head and pulls the cart over to where I said and ties it up.

I show them to Friar Peter's office and knock on the door. He calls to me to enter.

"Friar Peter. We have visitors that wish to speak with you."

"Very well, send them in."

I nod my head and open the door for Master Kwan.

"Oh uh Lady Kalias, please forgive me, but I also wish to speak with you as well," He says to me as I am about to leave.

"Oh well all right," I say to him, but a nervous feeling starts creeping into my stomach as I approach Peter's desk, "What is it you want to talk to us about?"

"I understand that you and Friar Peter are the keepers of Brother Gilbert and Draco's writings," He asks us as he takes a seat.

"Yes that's true," I say as I take my seat next to Friar Peter.

"I'm afraid that if you seek comfort while going over his work, we don't have much to offer you or your son," Friar Peter sincerely says to them.

"That is all right, I spent much time in a monastery much like this one in my youth, so I understand."

"If I may ask you, Master Kwan," I smile and ask him, "Where are you and your son from and why are you asking after Brother Gilbert's and Draco's knowledge?"

"We have come from Hebei Province where man and dragons lived in peace," He answers me and then I notice a trace of sadness enter his eyes as he continues, "Many years ago, a terrible evil set dragon against man and all our dragons were destroyed."

"That's awful," I say to him, but inwardly I cringed at the news I had dreaded for years, "All of the dragons that lived here were killed too."

"I am sorry to hear that," Friar Peter says to him, "But I'm afraid I don't know what that has to do with us."

"I am told that the founder of this monastery wrote extensively about dragons and that you and a woman, also named Kalias, were the named guardians of his and Draco's scrolls," He calmly says to Peter while looking at me, "It is strange that you should bear her name and look a lot like her. Lady Kalias was said to have been raised by Draco himself and she had piercing blue eyes, curly black hair and tan skin like you."

"She was my mother Master Kwan," I calmly lie, but inside I'm starting to get nervous, "Forgive me for not telling you that I was named after her."

"Brother Gilbert and Lady Kalias were kind souls. She was a fierce marks woman and a gifted healer, much like young Kalias here is," Peter sternly says as he puts his hand on my shoulder as a sign of comfort, "And Brother Gilbert, well though he was a great friend to us, he had an active imagination and a poor hand at poetry."

I giggle at Peter's statement. What he said was true, but he had no sense of humor whatsoever, "Oh sorry about that. I was just remembering how Mother used to tell me stories about him and how many times he annoyed her with his antics."

"That's all right," Master Kwan excused me, "It has been read in the stars that a new dragon was born some 20 years ago. Surely you two are aware that the prophesied comet will return in 5 days. We must prevent the evil from taking hold of this land again."

"I am a man of God," Friar Peter says in anger as he stands up, "I do not believe in superstitious prattle. Kalias, will you show our guests out?"

I nod my head; get up from my seat and gesture to Master Kwan to follow me. When they passed through the door, I closed it behind me.

"I didn't wish to say this in front of Friar Peter, but I do not believe you are being truthful about who you are."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I know you are not the first Lady Kalias' daughter because she had no children. So you must be she."

"No I'm," I start to say to him, but the look in his eyes makes me close my mouth and sigh, "I'm sorry, you are right. She was not my mother, she is me."

"I thought as much, but how you are able to look so young I will not ask. But onto more important matters; Kalias, it is very important that you allow us to test the dragon's purity and make sure there is no evil in his or her heart."

"I'm afraid you are wrong about that," I try to convince him. I am not comfortable with the fact he knows Drake exists or what this test would be, "Like I said before, all our dragons were also killed years ago. There are no more dragons here."

"Then the dragon claw around your neck is a useless talisman?"

I look down at my claw necklace and hold it out for him to see.

"This claw was given to me by my father Draco, 62 years ago. When he died and his spirit went to heaven, he left me this claw and all his knowledge to remember him by. He was the last dragon in this land and possibly the whole world."

"I am sorry for your loss, but like I said before, I have read the stars and they said that a new dragon has been born."

"Well there are no dragons here and I don't want to be rude, but I think you should leave tomorrow. You are welcome to stay for the night, now good night," I say to them with my arms crossed and turn to leave.

I don't know who he is but it was almost impossible to lie to that guy. He scares me, I'll admit it, and I'm more scared for Drake than I am for myself. Though the fact he knows so much about me is extremely unnerving and scary at the same time. I didn't know I was that well known in other lands other than this one and I hope he will take my advice and leave tomorrow. I don't know what kind of test he is planning, but if he's planning on hurting him, then I don't want him anywhere near my little brother. I know I promised myself that I would never pick up another weapon, but if someone is threatening my family, then that is one promise I have no problem breaking if it will keep them safe.

I look down at the claw around my neck and rub my thumb over it. I sniffle as I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I remember Father's face the last time I saw him. I'll drink my potion tomorrow, right now I need Drake. I wrap my arms around myself as I walk to his room and notice something odd. The door is slightly open; did Mansel forget to lock it? As I enter the tunnel, I also notice that the torch I normally have here is missing.

"Ok this is getting weird, first the door and now the torch? What is going on here?"

I have to feel my way to the catacombs. When I feel the remains of one of the old kings we have buried here, I grunt in disgust and wipe my hand off on my skirt. Then I feel my way to the stairs and carefully walk down them, holding onto the hand rails.

"Drake," I call out to him.

As I come closer to where his bed is, I swear I can hear two voices whispering at the same time.

_"Drat it's my sister! Huh, your sister?!"_

_"Look just go hide, I'll take care of this and don't make a sound."_

That sounds like Drake.

"Drake?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I walk over to him, look around for a second and turn back to him. I could have sworn someone else was here.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I'm not doing anything," He says as his tail swishes back and forth. That is an old sign that he's getting nervous.

"I heard another voice," I narrow my eyes at him and cross my arms, "Is there someone down here?"

"No!"

I arch my eyebrow at that.

"Are you lying to me?"

"Kalias that's hurts," He mock says and put his paw to his chest to act it out, "When have I ever lied to you?"

"Ok, ok never mind," I say and rub my forehead. I think I am starting to feel my real age, "I guess I just imagined it. That potion of mine may help me stay young, but sometimes I feel like an old lady."

"You are an old lady," He jokes and gently nudges me in the shoulder.

"Oh really," I smirk and tackle him.

He and I laugh as we roll along the ground. Drake was being careful not to squish me. When he started attacking my tickle spots, I scream and tried to get away from me.

"Hey no fair! No fair," I scream as he grabs my foot, pulls shoes off and starts attacking the bottom of my feet.

Clang! "Ow!"

I freeze and turn my head in the direction of that crash.

"Who's there," I demand and try to get out of Drake's grip which tighten for some reason, "Drake, let go!"

"Uh, I'm sure it was nothing."

"Seriously, let go of my feet," I say as I yank my feet out of his paws.

I slowly move over to where I heard the sound, pull back a curtain and receive the shock of my life.

"Geoff! What are you doing here?!"

"Well it looks like I'm making a mess," He says as he tries to get up.

I groan as I clear away the curtains and the candelabra that fell on him as well as a couple of brooms I keep down here.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Oh, you're fine? Ok, great; that's good to hear, "I smile and say in a happy tone and then change it to one of pure rage, "Because I'm going to kill you!"

Right as I say that, everything that isn't latched to the floor starts flowing and heading towards Geoff. As I chase him around the dungeon, the objects follow me.

"Get back here you little creep!"

"Kalias, Geoff stop," Drake shouts at us, but I just ignore him.

"Kalias why are you so mad at me," Geoff asks in a panic and ducks as a few books came at his head, "Just calm down so we can talk about this!"

"What's there to talk about? You snuck in here after I said not to and how did you even get a key to…" I didn't have to finish that question because the answer popped into my head, "You little sneak; you stole the key from me! That hug, it wasn't out of affection; it was just a way to get the key back from me!"

As I start chasing him again, he tries to say something to me.

"Ok, I'll admit it, I did steal the key back, but it's not what you think," He says as he hides behind Drake. Drake is doing his best to shield him from me.

"Drake move!"

"No," He says and picks me up by my waist. I pull at his claws to get out, but it's no use, "Kalias please just take a deep breath and calm down. When you have done that and put all these things back where they belong, then I will let you go. But not before hand, all right?"

I pant heavily as I look from him to Geoff. I know Drake means it, so I do as he asks and take in deep breaths. As I start to calm down, the books and things start sinking to the ground. I concentrate on them and put them back in their original spots. After Drake sets me down, a massive headache sweeps over me and I start to stumble backwards.

"Thank you," I say to Geoff after he catches me, "Could you get me to Drake's bed please?"

"Sure."

"Geoff," Drake says to him after he lays me down, "There's some water in a trough over there, could you fill the bucket there with water and bring it here with a rag for a cold compress for her?"

"Yeah," He says and runs off.

My head hurts so much and now so does my body. I feel hot and it's like all the fear I have been feeling over the years and today decided to pay me back in the worse way possible. Geoff returns with the bucket and places a cold rag on my head. It feels so good as the water trickles down my face and to the sides of my head. I sigh as it helps get rid of some of the pain slightly.

"Geoff I think you should go now," I hear Drake say to him.

"No, I'm staying, she's my sister too," He says as he removes the rag to check my forehead, flips it over and puts it back, "Jeez, she's burning up. I think she has a fever."

"Geoff," I hoarsely say to him and point to a shelf across from me, "On that shelf, there's a book with red binding and silver letters. Grab it and turn to the page with a blue book mark in it. There you will find a cure for this and everything that you need to make it is in my workshop and in the kitchen. Follow the instructions and then bring it here to me."

"Ok, I'll be back. Drake, keep her cool," He says as he grabs the book and leaves. I was about to tell him to remember to lock the door but another throb of pain racks through my body and head. I cry out and then my vision goes black.

(**Dream Sequence)**

* * *

"Hello? Where am I?"

"It's ok Kalias. You are safe," I hear a voice that I would know anywhere.

I turn around and see father standing there. I smile, run to him and hug his face as he bends down to me.

"Father, I'm so happy to see you. I have missed you."

"I know. I have been watching you and Drake."

"What happened to me," I ask him and gasp, "Am I dead?"

"No," He chuckles and then gives me a serious look, "But your powers are evolving and becoming more powerful."

"What? How?"

"Normally, they change through years of practice and patience, but sometimes they can be triggered through fear and/or anger."

"The migraine," I remembered.

"Yes, when you saw Geoff there, it triggered something. You need to learn to control your emotions Kalias. That's why I always tried to calm you down so you wouldn't get angry. I could tell you were special the moment I met you."

"Special? What do you mean?"

"You probably don't remember this, but at the campsite where you and your birth parents were attacked, I saw several items floating in the air and some had gotten stuck in trees. When I picked you up and comforted you, they dropped. Why do you think you were such a well accomplished archer?"

My eyes widened as I remembered everything. Every time I pulled an arrow back, I felt something. Something subtle.

"Yes, your skills from your training and a bit of magic helped you become such an amazing fighter. That is why I trained you to calm yourself before we began the weapons training. So these powers would come in time because I felt you weren't ready to handle them yet."

"Thank you for telling me that father, I have missed you deeply. I have missed your advice and there were times when I wished you were there to tell me what to do. Then I would look at the stars and it always helped me make the right decision. What do I do about the strangers and Geoff?"

"The strangers I don't believe they mean Drake any harm nor Geoff either. So let's not get so upset with either of them anymore ok young lady?"

"Ok," I chuckle at him, it's been so long since he's called me that, "I promise not to kill Geoff, but I am still mad at them for lying and stealing from me."

"I won't blame you for that, now I think it's time you woke up."

"No please! I don't want to leave you just yet!"

"You have too," He says as he puts a knuckle under my chin, "I will still be here in your heart and we will talk again. I promise, little one."

Then he kissed me on my forehead.

**(End of Dream)**

* * *

As I wake up, the pain that was once in my head and body decreased. I look to my right and see Geoff sitting there on the bed with a bowl and a spoon.

"Geoff," I whisper to him.

"Kalias, thank goodness you're awake," He says with worry clearly marked on his face, "When I came back, Drake told me you fainted, so I had to spoon feed you this. Thank goodness it worked,"

"It's ok. Just give me the rest of the bowl."

He helps me sit up and gently tips the bowl to my lips. My body feels weak, but it shouldn't be more than a day before I start feeling like my old self again. It tastes like he made it just right. I push the bowl away to get some air and after a few breaths; I try to support myself. That is bad idea because I fall back on the bed. Drake sees this and shakes his head as well as Geoff at my stubbornness. I sigh and let Drake support me while Geoff helps me drink the rest of the bowl. When I finish it, Drake gently lowers me down, rewets the compress and sets it on my forehead while Geoff covers me with a light blanket.

"Thanks you guys, this is really sweet of you," I softly say to them and turn to Geoff, "Geoff, I'm still waiting for an explanation. What you are doing down here?"

"All right I'll tell you," He sighs and sits down beside me. Drake sits on the opposite side, "After I got the key from you, I opened the door to get a sword I saw sitting there. When I picked it up, I found it was broken. I was going to leave, but then I saw Mansel's and your footprints in the sand. So I followed the prints with a torch that was lite and came to a tunnel with two ways. From one of them, the wind was blowing and it almost blew out my torch. After I traveled a bit, it relighted and I saw I was in a room of skeletons; I screamed and ran. I ran into a staircase and dropped the torch below. I looked over and saw a sword, a full one, sitting on the ground."

I knew of the sword he mentioned, I had seen it a couple of times, but never paid it any mind. Now I kind-of wish I had remembered to pick it up.

"I walked down the stairs," He continued after I gestured for him to continue, "And I picked up the sword. I saw it was dirty, so I started to clean it. Then I heard a low growl behind me and tilted the sword to look behind me and I saw Drake's reflection. He roared and I screamed when I turned around and we ran away from each other. I followed him to his bed and pulled back the curtain. He told me to leave and that I wasn't supposed to be here. I asked him how long he has been down here and he told me that he has always been here. Then we introduced ourselves and started talking until you came."

I look at Drake and he nods to reaffirm Geoff's story. Then I sigh and cover my face with my hand. I hadn't planned on Geoff meeting Drake just yet. After the comet came and went, then I thought of maybe introducing them to each other. But it's too late for that now.

"So what happens now," Drake ask me with concern.

"Geoff, since you now know about Drake; you can't tell anyone," I look and say to him in a stern and serious tone, "I mean it, absolutely no one can know about him, do you understand me?"

"Yes, I can keep a secret. I promise Kalias, I will not tell anyone about him."

"Thank you. Now I am going to get some sleep. You can go make yourself some dinner and go home if you wish."

"Are you sure? What if you need help? I would feel a lot better if I could be beside you."

"All right, after dinner you can stay down here with us if you wish," I sleepily say to him and close my eyes.

**TBC**

**Author's Note: Whew! Man that was a tough chapter to write. So it turns out that Kalias is something special. I hope you liked where I went with this. I did mention in Chapter 1 that she had dappled in magic. Ooh, too bad for her, that her powers increased so suddenly. I hope I didn't make her too angry for you, but I wanted some of that old spit-fire temper of hers to make reappearance. **

**You know how she gets when it comes to protecting her family. Now she's sick, though I can't blame her, what with the prophesy hanging over her head like an axe, two strangers that know her real identity and with Geoff now knowing about Drake. It's no wonder she's sick. See, stress is a killer people; so my suggestion is to take at least 30 minutes out of your day to relax. Do something to help calm you down, whether it's reading stories off Fanfiction, hee hee just kidding, swimming or whatever so you don't end up like Kalias here.**

**That's my advice for the day. Please remember to PM me or review below to let me know what you thought. **

**P.S. Oh and just for fun, what sort of power do you think Kalias should have now? I am open to any suggestions and will try to work it into the next chapter. Ok see ya in Chapter 4. ;D**


	4. Chapter 4: Mourning A Loss

**Disclaimer: Hey guys sorry it took me a while to get this out to you. Oh, by the way, I want to thank you guys for giving me ideas for this chapter. Again I am deeply sorry for keeping you waiting. This was a tough chapter to write and I have been super busy with other stuff in my life. Oh, and I was a little off in my timing of the comet, so I went back and re-wrote the that the comet is coming in 6 days and now it's 5 days till the comet. Now, as always I only own Kalias, none of the other characters from Dragonheart: A New Beginning are mine, as much as I'd love to. Now enjoy.**

* * *

As I start to wake up, my body feels different somehow. It feels lighter and stronger than before. I guess this is one of the things Father told about last night. He said that my powers were growing, but growing how? As I sit up, I look to my right and see Drake curled up next to me asleep. I smile and pull the blanket that was covering me off to get ready for the day.

"Kalias?"

I turn around and see Drake looking at me with tired eyes.

"Good Morning Drake."

"Good Morning," He says, yawns and stretches his legs and wings out, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I feel fine. Have you seen Geoff?"

"No, I wonder where he is."

"I'll find him."

"Do you think it's a good idea for you to be walking so soon? You had a bad night last night?"

"I am sure I will be fine," I say to him, then stop to think for a moment, "But stand by just in case."

He nods his head and goes over to my side of the bed to help me in case I fall. I crawl over the cushions and plant my feet firmly on the ground. I manage to push myself up and start to walk forward. My legs wobble a bit, but otherwise I'm ok. That is until I get to the edge of a few steps which lead from Drake's bed to the rest of the dungeon. I put a foot down on one of the steps and as I go to put down the other one, it slips and I fall forward. Drake catches me but I cut my leg on the edge and now it stings.

I look down to see the damage and right before my eyes, the wound on my leg seems to seal itself up. After a few seconds, the only evidence that I hurt myself was the bit of blood that leaked out.

"Kalias are you ok," Drake asks as he cleans the blood off my leg.

"I'm fine," I say as I push his head away from my leg, "That was odd."

"Yeah, one minute your leg is bleeding and the next it's not."

"Hey are you okay," Geoff asks as he comes in wearing a green tunic and, much to my horror, is carrying a bouquet of gladiolas. He seems to have forgotten that I am highly allergic to gladiolas.

"Are you okay," He repeats as he comes closer to me with the flowers. They are very beautiful but I wish he would get them out of here.

I can feel my nose itching and my eyes watering as I pull out my handkerchief out of a pocket of my dress. I feel a sneeze building up and as I sneeze into the handkerchief, it bursts into flame right in front of my eyes. I shriek and drop it as Geoff yells and Drake roars in surprise.

"Ok that's weird," I say as I look as the pile of burnt cloth on the ground, "Geoff would you please take those flowers away? I know you meant well but remember, I'm highly allergic to gladiolas."

"Oh sorry," He says as he puts down a bundle of green and light blue clothes and leaves the dungeon.

"Oh thank goodness," I say as I wipe my nose with my other handkerchief and look at the pile, "Aw, that was one of my favorites."

"Ok, that was really weird," Drake said as he pointed to the pile, "I knew you could do magic sister, but I didn't know you could breathe fire like, well, like I'm supposed to."

"I can't, uh, couldn't before," I stammer as I sweep up the ash with a small brush and dust pan and discard it, "But I dreamed about Father and he said my powers were changing. How long was I asleep?"

"You were unconscious for a day," Geoff answers me as he returned, "When you took your medicine, you fell straight asleep and didn't wake up until now."

That means that the comet will arrive in 5 days now.

"Ok, next question, why are you wearing that," I ask and point to his tunic as Drake lays down on his bed with a book.

"There's been a new rule from the castle," Geoff grumbled as he fiddles with the tunic he's wearing and unties his bundle, "Lord Osric has decreed that all people are to have two new tunics with the color suited to his/her station. Those caught without their tunic will get 10 lashes for it."

He finishes untying the string and tosses two light blue tunics to me. I assume these are supposed to be mine.

"Well, it looks nice," I awkwardly say as I slip it on, "But it won't be this color for long, not with my job."

"At least yours looks nice," Geoff complains as he tugs at a string.

"Oh come on Geoff, your tunic doesn't look that bad," Drake looks up from his book and says to Geoff.

"I hate this thing. It's ugly and it itches."

"Geoff will you quit complaining? The Old Code doesn't say anything about what you've got to wear in order to become a knight."

"He's right," I say to him, "Rememeber…

'A knight is sworn to valor.

His heart knows only virtue.

His blade defends the helpless.

His might upholds the weak.

His word speaks only truth.

His wrath undoes the wicked," I say to him as I untie the belt around my skirt and retie it around the tunic draped over the top of it.

"Yeah well I have about as much of a chance of becoming a knight as I do of convincing either one of you to let Drake come outside."

"Geoff no. That's not a good idea," I tell him as my blood chilled for a moment.

"_It's too soon to let him out yet,"_ I think to myself.

"I promised Friar Peter I would never go outside," Drake sternly say to him.

"You're a dragon, so act like one," Geoff says as he tosses a pillow at his head.

"Hey, here let me get that thread for you," Drake says to him as he brings his tail up, opens the blades at the end and snips the thread off.

While Geoff was distracted, I pick up the pillow he threw at Drake and hit him in the head with it. As he turned around I put on the most innocent look on my face as I look at him. He picks the pillow, looks at it and then me and smirks at me. He comes at me and starts hitting me with it. I grab one of my own and start to counter with it. Drake decided to join in and started teaming up with Geoff against me. I decide to forget the pillow, toss it away and catch Geoff in a playful headlock. As we start to rough house, Drake catches me by my waist, pins me to the ground and starts licking me all over my face.

"Ew, yuck! Drake stop!"

"Why? You taste good."

"Oh you are going to pay for this you little lizard, mark my words," I shriek and squirm under him.

After I say that, we hear the bells ringing upstairs and Drake's head picks up.

"It's Friar Peter," He says with a smile at first, which quickly turns into a look of terror, "Oh man, this is not good."

"I'll say it not," I retort and push on Drake, "Drake get off me. Geoff, he can't find you here or we'll all be in trouble. Especially me, go hide."

He nods his head, grabs his second tunic and ducks behind some book shelves and a curtain.

"Drake," I hear a voice call out that sounds like Mansel.

"Mansel, is that you?"

"Kalias, Drake I have sad news for you both," He says as he approaches us from the stairs.

"What," Drake asks in concern, "What's wrong?"

"Friar Peter is gone."

I gasp as I hear Drake ask, "Where did he go?"

"He went to heaven," Mansel carefully explains to him, "Do you understand what that means?"

It hurt me to see the realization spread across his face when he figured out what Mansel said.

"Oh yes," He sadly says to him and then carefully asks, "Did it hurt him to die?"

"I don't think so. He seemed fine yesterday, but he was old. Kalias I am so sorry I didn't come to you, but Geoff told me that you were sick and I didn't have the heart to wake you."

"It's ok Mansel," I say to him as tears start forming in my eyes, "When did he die?"

"This morning, he didn't wake up. Drake I know he was very fond of you and I know I'm not Friar Peter, but I promise I will help Kalias take care of you. If you ever need anything, I will help you."

"Thank you Mansel," He says in a sad voice.

Mansel smiles at us and hugs me before going back upstairs. Drake hangs his head and moans as we walk back to his bed.

"I just talked to him yesterday," Geoff says in disbelief, "I can't believe he's…"

"I don't really feel like talking now," Drake says as he lays down on his bed, "I'd like to be alone please."

"Ok Drake," Geoff says to him and starts to pull me with him.

I stop him and walk up to Drake. The poor guy has tears running down his face. I sigh and kiss him on the cheek before leaving. As we leave, I can hear Drake crying in the background. It breaks my heart seeing my little brother so heart-broken and I am also compelled to go back to comfort him, but he said he wanted to be alone.

I too need some time to think. With Friar Peter gone, I am now the oldest and now it's my responsibility to take care of two brothers until they are old enough to care for themselves. Geoff practically can take care of himself, well most of the time, and he has proven capable of taking care of me, not just yesterday, but in the past as well. I remember the hand full of times I was late in making my potion and started feeling the effects of my real age. I may look 25 years old, but in reality I'm actually 76 years old. When that happened, it hurt, not as bad as the other day; but it wasn't pretty and it scared me. Geoff would follow my instructions and would make the potion for me. By now he's probably mastered it and he swore to me that he would never reveal it to anyone.

Drake, however, I am going to have my work cut out for me. Once the comet is gone, he could start living his life as a dragon. Unfortunately, he has no knowledge of how to fly, breath fire or even the most basic technique of blending into the landscape. I hate to admit that it is Friar Peter's and my fault he doesn't know these things, but until the comet leaves, it's better to be safe than sorry. All I have to do is keep Drake in the dungeon for 5 more days and then this nightmare will be over.

"_Once the comet is gone, then I promise I will teach you everything you need to know to be a dragon Drake,"_ I think to myself as I follow Geoff out the door and lock it behind me.

"Do you think he's going to be okay?"

"I don't know Geoff. He's taking this pretty hard," I sigh as I run my fingers through my hair, "When Brother Gilbert died, he was just as sad as he is now, but he never told me to leave him alone before. I'm worried about him."

"So am I. I know I just met him two days ago, but I already feel connected to him. I hate seeing him like this and you too."

I nod my head and can feel the tears escaping down my face. After all these years, losing someone I knew never got any easier. I feel Geoff put his arms around me and I return his embrace.

"I will miss him Geoff."

"I know sister."

We stay like this for a while before letting go of each other.

"I am going to say goodbye to him before the monks take him away to be buried."

"Ok, I'll be at the docks," He says and turns to leave.

Normally I would tell him to go do his chores, but I think I will make an exception in this case. I turn to ask one of the other monks where Friar Peter's body is. As I enter his bedroom, I can see his body covered by a shroud. I pull it back to look at his face and kneel beside him.

"Peter, it's me. I am so sorry I wasn't with you in your last hour. But I'm here now and I have news. The comet will come in 5 more days, then Drake can start living his life. I know you would be very angry with me, but Geoff found his way into the dungeon and met Drake. They've really started to bond now. They even took care of me when I was sick. Geoff is a good man; I trust that he will keep Drake's existence a secret. Mansel doesn't know and I kind-of hope he doesn't find out. Poor guy would be shocked. I promised myself I would train Drake as a dragon the best I could," I say to him as I hold his hand, "I wish Father were here. He would be a better teacher for Drake than I would. I know you would probably disagree and say, 'Nonsense, you are just as capable of teaching Drake all he needs to know as anyone.' I just hope that I don't fail him as a sister. You were a great help to me and both Geoff and Drake. Thank you for all you have done for us. We will miss you, my old friend."

I sniffle, kiss his cheeks and cover him back up. I need to help the monks prepare for his funeral.

* * *

**(Drake's P.O.V.)**

Everything hurts. I feel a great pain in my chest. It's like someone ripped out my heart and stomped it to the ground. One of the last father figures I had in my life is gone. I know he is in heaven and he isn't suffering anymore, but I can't help feeling lost. I never got to say goodbye to him.

"_It's not fair, Kalias and Geoff are probably having one last moment with him and I'm stuck down here. I should be with him too,"_ I think to myself.

With that last thought playing in my head, I get up and wipe the tears from my face. I know I promised Friar Peter and Kalias I would never go outside, but surely she would understand why just this once. I want to see him before they bury him forever and I will be careful not to let anyone see me.

I pick up Kalias' scent and follow it up the stairs. Part of me is telling me, _"Go back downstairs, she's going to go nuts if she catches you up there. You saw how she reacted when only Geoff saw you, if anyone else does, she's going to lose it!" _

"Well that's true," I say to myself.

Then another stronger part of me says, "_You've been down here all your life and not once have you ever gotten to go up there. Aren't you curious about it? Look you'll just go see Friar Peter one last time and then come back before she or Mansel ever know you're gone."_

"Well I guess no harm can come from seeing him," I say to myself. Then I realize something.

"Oh great I'm arguing with myself," I moan and shake my head, "I must be going crazy."  
Listening to the second voice, I make my way to the door Kalias comes through to visit me. I push against it and it doesn't budge. She must have locked it. I look at my claws and the keyhole for a moment.

"Maybe I can pick the lock."

I put my index claw in the hole and jiggle it a bit. With a quick twist, the lock clicks and the door opens.

As I poke my head out, I look around to see if anyone is around. There is no one here. They are probably either in the chapel praying or are preparing for Friar Peter's funeral. Cautiously, I step out and everything looks brighter out here. It smells fresher and the air is warmer. I never realized how stuffy the dungeon was compared to the air out here. It feels good.

Then it hit me. I have no idea where they would be keeping Friar Peter. I sigh and start walking around, smelling for Kalias' scent. Got it. now all I have to do is follow it without being seen by her or anyone else.

"Lord please help me," I mutter to myself.

By some miracle, I am able to hide from the few people that come out and I see Kalias walking away from a building wiping her face. The pain in my heart returns as I see her looking so sad. Now I feel guilty about telling her to leave me alone. This has been hard on her too. I hope she doesn't blame herself for Friar Peter's death. She had no way of knowing he was sick. She may be the best healer in the land, but she can't save everyone.

I watch her go with some monks and sneak my way inside the building and follow her scent to Friar Peter's room. I see him covered by a blanket. He looks so pale and if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn he was sleeping.

"Friar Peter, it's Drake. I know, I know. I shouldn't be here and you would probably say, 'Drake get your tail back to your room,' but I had to come. Besides Kalias, you were all the family I had left and the only one that made me understand what I am. I just feel so lost. This place is amazing and I wish you would have let me out a bit more. Why was I to stay inside at all times? I wish I knew why and I'm afraid to ask Kalias. She might get angry and the last thing I want is for her to be angry at me."

I put my snout on his hand.

"I will miss you Peter and I hope you will have a happy life in heaven. No one deserves it better than you. I love you."

I rest my head on his and cover him back up. As I leave and stick my head out the door, that first voice returns, _"Ok you came and saw him. Now get your tail back to your room before you get in trouble." _

Then the other voice says, _"No wait, you're already out here so why not explore it a bit? Just for a few minutes, then you can go back." _

"Oh great there's those voices again," I complain to myself. I pause for a moment to consider the consequences and decide to look around. The monastery is a very peaceful place and I notice how the houses are set up along the road. There are huge walls surrounding the place that remind me of the walls in my room. On one side I can hear a river. Feeling thirsty I decide to go in that direction for a drink. I jump up on the wall and land on the other side. I can smell other animals that have been here before. I follow the sound of running water through the brush before it comes into view. Kneeling down, I take a long drink of cool water. I look around and see Geoff sitting on the docks is what I believe they are called. He is looking out at the river and occasionally throwing rocks in the water.

I start to walk to him, but then several other people with bright red tunics came riding towards Geoff on horses.

"Uh oh, not good," I say feeling nervous, "I hope they don't see me."

I move into the brush a bit more and watch them. Amazingly, I can also hear everything they are saying to Geoff.

"I am Roland," One of the riders says to Geoff. He looks about the same age as Geoff, maybe a few years older than him, but still.

"I'm Geoff," Geoff says as he holds that sword he found the other day in his hand.

"Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself yesterday. I had some business at the castle."

"How was it."

"Big, stuffy, full of tapestries."

"Yeah, I hardly go there anymore."

"Oh Geoff," I moan and cover my face with my paw, "Don't start telling fibs, it will come back to haunt you."

"Ha, really," Roland snorts and looks at him smugly. I don't think he believes Geoff has ever been to the castle, and neither do I for that matter.

"Who was that woman I saw you with yesterday?"

"That was my older sister Kalias."

"Hmm, I see you have a sword," He points and says, "Care to test your might?"

"Sure."

I watch as they touch blades and then start the fight. Geoff is able to deflect Roland's attacks and almost gets a few swipes of his own at Roland's chest. He backs up just in time.

"Hey, this stable boy's not bad," One of the others says to his friend.

"Yeah, careful Roland or you could end up taking a bath," The man teases Roland.

He didn't like that and started increasing his attacks on Geoff. He keeps pushing Geoff closer and closer to the edge of the dock and knocks the sword out of his hand. Geoff trying to keep his balance points out that they are just practicing. Roland smiles and tosses him back his sword and continues the fight. Geoff is doing well, then Roland swipes at his sword one more time and breaks it in half. Geoff backs up, wobbles a bit before Roland pushes him into the river. I quickly stand up, but sit back down when I see that the river there only covers Geoff's legs as he sits there.

"If we weren't practicing, you would be dead," Roland smugly says to Geoff as he sheathes his sword, "Now lower your eyes. Stable boys should never meet the gaze of their betters."

Geoff stares at him for a few minutes, then turns his head in my direction. I can see the disgust on his face as Roland looks satisfied and gets on his horse with his friends to leave. Geoff turns his head to watch them leave. As he gets up, this seems like a good time to go to him. I make my way through the brush to him. I can see him on the grass near a bridge leading from the monastery across the river. He picked up the pieces of the broken sword and was looking at them as I came up behind him.

"So this is what it's like outside," I say to him and look around.

"Drake," He says to me, then turns to watch Roland and his friends ride by on their horses back to the castle.

"What are you doing out here?! Kalias is going to kill you and then me if she finds out you came out here."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to say goodbye to Friar Peter," I sadly say to him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kalias, wearing a black cape and hood, singing a sad song in the Old Language. She is being followed by the other monks carrying Friar Peter's body all wrapped up and tied to two poles.

"You were lucky to have known him for as long as you did," He says as he sits next to me and watches them carry him into the woods.

"But my heart hurts."

"It wouldn't hurt this bad forever," He tells me as he throws the broken sword away.

"I'm worried about Kalias. She's taking this very hard and I'm worried she's going to make herself sick again."

"Then it's up to us to make her happy," Geoff stands up and says in determination, "And I've got an idea of how to do it, but first we need to get you back to the dungeon, before she sees you."

* * *

**(Back to Kalias' P.O.V.)**

"I swear I am going to be fine Jacob, I thank you that you will be praying for me, but I don't need anything," I plead with him, "Now I wish to be left alone please."

"Very well Lady Kalias. I will respect your wishes. Try to have a blessed day."

"Thank you."

I hug him and turn to go back to the dungeons. I hope Drake is okay now. He looked so sad when I left. I unlock the door and stick the key in my pocket. As I walk down the stairs, I can hear Drake and Geoff talking about something.

"Boys," I call out to them.

"Uh Kalias don't come over here."

"Why what's wrong," I ask in concern, "If you boys broke anything, I need to know now."

"No we didn't," Drake says as I come around the corner. He and Geoff are trying to block my view of something.

"What is that," I ask and point to something red on a table behind them.

"Well it's your surprise," Geoff says as he moves out-of-the-way.

There are bunches of fabric that look like they used to be curtains and patterns laid out. My old dummy model is also out and is wearing something I never thought I'd see again. I remember when I wore that dress.

* * *

**(Flashback-60 years ago and 2 months after Einon's and Draco's death.)**

"Kalias, please open the door," Kara calls to me.

"Go away Kara," I yell at the door I am leaning against, as I wipe my eyes, "I already told you and Bowen, I'm not going!"

"Kalias, will you at least open the door?"

I sigh and move the furniture I used to block the door and unlock it. As I turn to sit on the bed, Kara enters my room followed by Bowen.

"Kalias, I know it's been hard for you, but sealing yourself up in your room isn't the answer," Bowen calmly says as he places a hand on my shoulder. I sigh and lean into him. Ever since Father died, Bowen and I had really bonded. The same with Kara. She became the mother I never had.

"Kalias, I won't force you down there but I think it would be a good idea for you to socialize with other people. Now that Einon's soldiers are gone, you have the opportunity to talk to more people now."

"I am not comfortable being around a big crowd of strangers right now Bowen."

"Well I saw a few people down there that you might know and have been dying to see you," Kara says with a knowingly smile, "Especially, that one young man down there. He seemed especially eager to see you again."

"Who," I ask out of curiosity.

"I don't know who he is but, he has been asking about you for a while now."

"Very well, then I will go to the party, if only to see this young man."

I start to go to the door, but Kara stops me.

"Wait, you're not going down there dressed like that, are you?"

I look at the dress I have on and shrug. Except for a slight rip in the skirt at the bottom, I see nothing wrong with it. She sighs and shakes her head at my actions.

"I have just the dress for you," She says as she push me to the vanity dresser and makes me sit, "You may come in now Brother Gilbert."

I turn around and see him come into the room carrying a dark red dress and matching shoes. As well as a small brown outer corset.

"No way! There is no way I am wearing that! Forget it."

I try to get up, but Kara pushes me back down in the chair. I look at her in annoyance as she takes the dress from Brother Gilbert and orders him and Bowen out of the room.

"Kara please. I'm going to look ridiculous in that."

"You wear dresses all the time. Why is this one so bad?"

"Where did you get that?"

"I made it myself for you," She says with a hurt look on her face as she places it on the bed, "I thought you could wear it when we have a party here at the castle. Like tonight for example."

I go over to the bed and hold it up to get a better look at it. It's actually not as bad as I thought it was. Now I feel really bad that she worked so hard to make this. If Father were here, he'd tell me that I should wear the dress out of courtesy to her. With that in mind, I look at her and smile.

"Thank you Kalias," She smiles and says to me with a hug, "Trust me, when I get done with you, you are going to look shunning."

After 30 minutes in the bath, she brushes my hair and pins it up for me. Then she lightly powders my face and helps me into my dress. When she is done, she brings me over to a mirror. For a moment, I didn't recognize the girl in the mirror until she raised the same arm I did. That's when I knew that the strange girl in the mirror was actually me.

"See, you're beautiful," She says as she comes up behind me and looks at the mirror with me, "Come on, can't keep lover boy waiting all night you know."

With that, she helps me into my shoes and once they are on; we head out the door and down the stairs. I felt a cold chill run down my spine as we got closer to the party room. I gasped and started to turn back, but Kara caught me and started pushing me back to the door.

"It'll be fine. Stop worrying."

As we enter the hall, I look around at all the people who came. It's amazing how so much could change in such a short amount of time. Everything feels so peaceful now. I see Bowen talking to a young man in a dark blue vest and pants with a light blue shirt. He smiles and points at me to the young man.

He turns around and I see that the young man is actually Colt. So he's the young man that has been dying to see me after all this time. Now I feel guilty for ignoring him. His hair is the same but he has gotten taller and he has a goatee, neatly trimmed, on his chin. It makes him look older and more handsome since the last time I saw him.

"Kalias, you look beautiful this evening," He says as he kisses my hand.

"Oh thank you Colt. It's been a long time since I last saw you. You're looking well," I say and blush.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Me? You want to dance with me?"

"Yes, unless you see another beautiful girl with piercing blue eyes around."

"I would love to dance with you Colt," I laugh and say to him.

He offers his arm which I take and he leads me onto the dance floor with the others. It took a little practice, but I got the hang of it. We danced for several dances before deciding to take a breather in the garden for a while.

"It's beautiful out here," I say as we sit down on some benches.

"Yes it is," He says as we look up at the stars. As I am watching the constellation Draco, I feel him put his arm around my shoulder. I touch his hand with my own and smile at him.

"I miss him you know."

"Yeah I know. He was a great friend to all of us and he was a great father to you. Kalias, there's something important that I want to ask you."

"Yes Colt, what is it?"

"Kalias, I…,I…," He stammers and blushes. Why? I haven't a clue, " I know I haven't seen you for a while, but I loved the time we had together before. You are such a strong person and very caring of others. These are qualities that any man would be, be l-l-lucky to have in a-a-a w-w-w-w-wife."

"What? Colt are you asking me?" I asked to be sure I hadn't heard wrong.

"Yes I am Kalias, Daughter of Draco," He says with an air of seriousness and gets down on one knee. He takes my left hand in his own, "Kalias, will you marry me? Will you be my wife?"

"I…I…I…I…," I stammer this time and I am sure that my face is as red as my dress right now. I had never given much thought to the idea of marriage and I like Colt. But I need to think this over, "Colt may I have time to think it over?"

"Oh yes, of course," He politely says, but I can see the hurt in his eyes. I smile at him as we go back inside.

"Colt I will be back. Could you get me a drink?"

"As you wish Kalias," He says and squeezes my hand.

I look around and spot Kara talking to Hewe, who looked good after he cleaned himself up, and his three daughters, Sarah, Juliet, and Coleen.

"Kara, I need to talk you now," I whisper eagerly to her.

"All right," She whispers and turns to Hewe, "Will you excuse Hewe? Girls?"

They nods their heads and I pull her towards the door.

"Kalias, what is it?"

"Colt has asked me to marry him."

"What? When did this happen?"

"Just a few moments ago, in the garden. We were watching the stars and I was talking about how I miss Draco and then he asked me to marry him."

"Well what did you say?"

"I asked if I could think about it. Kara what do I do? I never thought of the idea of marriage and I'm worried."

"Do you love him?"

"Well, I like him a lot. He's a great man and very sweet."

"Yes, but do you love him?"

I thought for a moment and remembered all we've been through. He stood up for me against people that made his life miserable. He helped me when I was feeling down and he helped fight with me against Einon.

"Yes I love him," I smile at her, "I love how sweet he is to me and when he stammers when he gets nervous."

"Then what are you waiting for? I know Draco would want you to be happy. I can't think of anyone who doesn't deserve it more than you."

"Thank you Kara," I sigh and hug her.

She smiles, returns the hug and puts a hand on my face. I look at her and look around for Colt in the crowd. I spotted him by the food table with two drinks in his hands. He had a forlorn look on his face. I cast a calm smile on my face as I approach him. He braces himself like he expects the worse; instead I surprise him by grabbing his shirt and kissed him on the lips. He was so shocked by my actions he dropped the glasses in his hands, but he relaxed into it and wrapped his arms around me.

"I take it this means yes you'll marry me," He asks panting as we break away.

I nod my head and he cheers as he picks me up by my waist and spins us around.

**(End of Flashback. Back to now)**

* * *

6 months later we were married. After seeing this dress and seeing my brothers trying to recreate something like it, it touched my heart. I remember that they are still here for me and love me as well.

"Kalias why are you crying," Drake asks me and offers a handkerchief.

"Sorry I didn't realize I was," I say as I wipe my eyes with it, "You guys just reminded me of some people I knew a long time ago. Thank you for this."

"I remembered that your birthday is coming soon, so we thought of making you something, but dresses are harder than I thought," Geoff sheepishly says to me.

"I will help you finish it and thank you for remembering. I kind-of forgot about it."

It took most the afternoon and started getting dark, but the three of us managed to get the dress finished. It is red with a dark red cape and I found a black corset to wear outside it and a red sash.

After we finish it, Geoff and I go to the kitchen to eat and then prepare Drake's dinner. After he finishes eating, I get ready for bed and fall asleep with Drake and surprisingly Geoff joins us in the huddle. As I close my eyes, I bask in the love shown to me by my brothers.

* * *

**TBC**

**Author's Note: Ok whew, I am sorry I took forever to get this out, but man this was a tough chapter to write. So we say farewell to Friar Peter and Drake left the dungeon for the first time. Big changes are heading their way. Stay tuned for what is in the next chapter. Please remember to review below. Thank you for all your patience. **


	5. Chapter 5: Co-protectors of the Realm

**Disclaimer: Hi guys. I hope you loved the last chapter and it was worth the wait the same as this one. Now with Friar Peter gone, Kalias will have her hands full. And with Drake having ventured out one time already, will she find out about that and if so, how will she deal with it? Let's find out. As always I only own Kalias, blah blah blah and see the first chapter and one after it for the rest. Now enjoy the chapter. **

"_4 more days,"_ I think to myself as I wake up and rise to get ready for the day, _"I wish that stupid comet would get here already. It's torture to wait." _

I need to get back to my normal routine. I still have other people depending on me for help. I checked my hut yesterday and found a lot of notes attached to my door of people complaining about all kinds of ailments. I grab my new tunic and slip it over my work clothes. Personally, I think the idea of having to wear it all the time to be completely ridiculous. But I don't want to be whipped for it, so might as well listen to them. A younger me would have tossed the stupid tunics in the river, but I have matured over the years thankfully so I learned to not take things so personally. I look over the notes and organize them by who is suffering the worst. There are a lot here, man you close the doors one day and work piles up on you. Thus is the life of a healer; our work is never done.

As I look them over, I prepare all that I need to treat them and start off towards the villages around the monastery and the castle.

**(Geoff's P.O.V)**

As I wake up, I see Kalias heading up the stairs. She must be going to see the people she hadn't been able to treat. I saw yesterday that people were writing notes and sticking them on her door. I had no idea she was that sought after, no wonder they say she's the greatest healer in the realm. She's always had a sort of magic about her and from I saw the other day and yesterday morning, it seems she won't have to worry about healing herself anymore.

I get up and go over to the water basin to wash my face. I can't believe how long it took to make one dress. But as long as it makes her happy, it doesn't matter to me. It looks beautiful hanging up in her wardrobe next to the other dress she has.

I look around for my sword, but then I remember what happened yesterday. That jerk Roland broke my sword and pushed me into the river. I hated having to lower my eyes to him, even if what he said was true. Where does he get off being so high and mighty? It was like he thought he was a prince or something, just because he's got that fancy red and gold tunic. If I had that, he wouldn't be acting so smug. I need to get out of here; the dungeon may be all fine and dandy for Kalias and Drake, but not me.

Speaking of which, I can't believe that crazy dragon. He deliberately went against an order from Kalias and Friar Peter. I didn't know he had it in him. Maybe his dragon instincts kicked in and he needed to get out. I can understand the feeling of wanting to get out for a while. I look at Drake; he is sound asleep. I think I will go out for a bit and then bring him out later.

I go up the stairs and out the door. As I walk down the road, Brother Thomas stops me.

"Good morning Geoff."

"Good morning Thomas."

"I was walking by the stables and saw that it's beginning to look rather dingy. Would you please see to it that it is clean?"

"All right I'll get on it," I say to him as I think to myself, _"Dang it. I forgot about that."_

"Thank you," With that, he takes the rake he had in his hand and made off for the gardens.

I head for the stables. Normally I would have argued it, but for some reason I don't feel like it. It takes most of the morning, but I am able to get all the animals cleaned up, fed and cleaned out their pins and stalls. Finally, I use a pitchfork to spread out hay for them. Now I am going to have to get them fresh water. I put up the shovel and pitchfork and grab a couple of buckets. I go over to the well and set them down. As I crank the lever, I see a couple of the king's knights and the town crier coming.

"HEAR YE, HEAR YE. NEWS FROM THE CASTLE! LORD OSRIC, WITH THE KING'S PERMISSION, HAS DECLARED THE ONLY TRUTH SHALL BE SPOKEN. ANYONE CAUGHT LYING WILL BE GIVEN 7 LASHES. ALSO, ALL PEOPLE WITH GREEN, TAN, AND BEIGE TUNICS MUST BE INDOORS BY SUNDOWN, FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY.

LONG LIVE THE KING!"

"Great, my back will never be the same," I groan to myself as I carry the buckets back to the stable and fill the troths, "Most of the time I try to be honest, but I have fibbed a couple of times. I just hope no one catches me."

As I make several trips till they are full, I keep thinking about the declaration they made today. I can't believe I have been given a curfew. This is not fair. Just like it's not fair that Drake should have to stay in that dungeon. But maybe he doesn't have to.

"_I wonder how he would feel about a second outing," _I think to myself, _"With Kalias gone, it would be a perfect opportunity for him." _

With that thought in mind, I smirk and make my way back to the dungeon and to his bed.

"Drake," I say to him and shake his arm, "Drake come on, wake up."

"Hmm, what," He groggily asks as he opens his eyes and yawns. I back up as he stretches out his legs and wings, "Ok, Geoff what do you want?"

"Hey I was thinking about yesterday. Just out of curiosity, after your visit to Friar Peter, were you happier outside?"

"Well yes and no."

"Would you mind explaining that?"

"No because part of me was scared that Kalias was going to find me or someone else was going to see me. And yes because it felt good out there. Everything was brighter and fresher. I could hear almost everything and I heard everything that guy Roland and his friends said to you yesterday."

"Yeah I figured that," I rolled my eyes and smirked, "You want to feel those good feelings again?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you go with me back out there."

"What?! Oh, no, no, no. That was a onetime thing. I don't think that would be a very good idea Geoff."

"Look Drake, I will admit it probably wasn't a good idea going out there alone, but I will be with you this time and I can keep an eye out for you. Come on Drake."

I watch him look away. I can tell by the look on his face that he is thinking about what I just said.

"_Come on Drake," _I think to myself.

"You'll make sure that no one sees me?"

"Yes."

"All right. Just for a little while."

"Great. Come on, let's go!"

He gets up and we walk up the stairs to the door. I get out the key Kalias let me have. She said that it was Brother Gilbert's and since I knew about Drake, that I should be able to get in and out of the dungeon. I open the door and walk out first to see if anyone's around. Luckily for us, no one seems to be around.

"Ok it's clear. Come on."

Drake looks around for a moment and then comes out of the dungeon. I have him follow me till we get to a wall. He picks me up and jumps over it.

"See, smooth as silk," I tell him as he sets me down. I point to a cliff overlooking the monastery.

"Let's go up there. I want to show you what you have been missing."

We walk past some more houses and duck when we see a kid coming out of her house. Luckily for us, her mother came out of the house to bring her back in and shuts the door. We both let out a sigh of relief and sneak past it. Once we are clear of the houses, we run up the hill to the top of the cliff.

Drake settles himself on a smaller ledge and stretches out his wings. I am amazed at how big they are.

"How do you feel Drake?"

"Better. It feels good to actually stretch out and not have to worry about breaking something. It feels a little cold though."

"Yeah it usually does at higher places. So what do you think?"

"I think this place is amazing. There is so much room out here. I almost wish it could be like this all the time."

"It could you know? You may think this is a great place, but not me," I say to him as I look at the castle.

"No, Geoff it couldn't and what did you mean by this isn't a great place?"

"It's Lord Osric. They made some new rules stating that 10 lashes will be given to anyone caught without these stupid tunics," I yell at him and pull at the tunic, "And to top it off, everyone wearing these things and tan and beige tunics has to be indoors by sundown! I mean who does Lord Osric think he is?! Next he will be telling everyone what to think."

"If they want to let him do that, then he probably can," Drake says as he scratches his neck with his back paw.

"Well not me," I tell him as I take the tunic off me and throw it over the cliff.

"You're throwing your new tunic away? I don't think that's such a good idea Geoff."

"Well I do and good riddance to it. I wish I could get away from here. Why don't we both just leave this place?"

"What, leave?"

"Yeah you could fly us away from here."

"I, I don't really feel like flying," He says and puts his head down.

"Sure you do. What do you think those wings of ours are for," I ask him as he stretches out his wings and looks at them. Then I point to a mountain range in the distance, "You see those mountains? Past them are other lands and adventure and glory. I'll bet there are other dragons over there too."

"No Geoff there aren't," Drake says to me in a sad voice, "Kalias said so."

"I bet Kalias has never ever been over those mountains or anywhere else for that matter."

"That's not true," He retorted and stamped his paw, "She said she and Father used to go flying all the time and she's even been to Avalon."

"Ok I will give her credit for Avalon, but I still think we ought to do it and then we can come back and be more famous than Bowen and Draco and even Kalias," I try to convince him while at the same time getting very irritated, "All you have to do is just open your wings and jump Drake."

"Nuh-uh, nothing doing," He stubbornly snaps at me, "I'm staying right here. I like it here. And if flying is so easy, then why don't you do it?"

"You know maybe it would have been better for everyone if I was the dragon and you were the stable boy," I yell at him and walk away.

"Go ahead, I'd like to see that," He yells back at me.

"Stupid dragon," I mutter to myself.

"_Fine, if he wants to stay here for the rest of his life, then I'm not going to stop him," _I think to myself as I walk down the hill and start entering the village.

I look up and see a couple of soldiers on horses and look down at myself.

"Oops," I say as I remember that I threw my tunic away. I turn to go back to look for it and there are some more on horses.

"Look, he hasn't got a tunic," One of the soldiers points out to the others.

"_Uh-oh, this is not good,"_ I think to myself as they start surrounding me.

"Let me see if I can read your minds," I tell them in a calm manner, "You are probably wondering why I don't have on my tunic."

"Yeah we are," The leader said to me and smiled. It wasn't a pleasant one either.

"Well you see, today was the day all the monks clean the privies. And old Friar Gustav must have thought my tunic was a rag or something. Because he used it to…"

"10 lashes for the tunic and 7 lashes for the lie," The leader says to me, grabs me by my shirt and pushes me into his buddies.

They start pushing me towards a post and I see one of the others grabbing a whip out of his horse's saddle bag.

"_Oh man! This isn't happening," _I think to myself as I feel them start pulling my shirt up to remove it.

"It seems we have lost our way," I hear a familiar voice. We look up and see a foreign old man and boy standing there. I remember seeing them the other day, "Would you be so kind as to point us in the right direction?"

The leader walks past me and right to them.

"Lord Osric told you to leave. Now the only place I am going to show you is the palace dungeon."

He goes to grab the old man, but his son kicks his hand away so fast that you almost didn't see it. The leader looks at him in confusion and then tries to grab him instead, but the boy hits his hand away at the same speed of the kick. They snuffle a bit and the boy twists the guy's arm and kicks him away from him. The soldiers let go of me and unsheathe their swords.

I hear the old man say, "Be gentle with them," to his son as he moves away from him.

He takes a fighting stance as the leader charges at him. The boy sidesteps and kicks the sword out of his hand. I move out of the way to avoid getting skewered as the sword lodges itself in the post. The leader, now without his sword, tries to attack the boy with a dagger, but he ducks, falls on his back and kicks his legs up and hits him in the back.

Then he rolls over and swipes the legs of one of the guards, causing him to fall and the boy slams his foot down on the guy's chest. Next he back rolls and kicks the sword out of another soldier's hand, which lands next to the other one in the post. The guy tries to punch him, but he ducks and lands his own punches and kicks before anyone could blink. Next thing I know, that soldier was kicked into the post and his helmet got stuck.

"_Wow, this guy is good," _I think to myself as I watch the fight, _"Just what kind of fighting do they do in the land these strangers come from?" _

I watch him do a series of front flips to avoid the swipes of a soldier's sword. The boy climbs up on a bucket, then a cart, does a backflip and lands on the soldier's shoulders. He balls up his fists together and hits the man two times in the head before using his weight to kick him in the stomach and throwing him forward as they fall towards the ground.

The leader, after recovering and watching his companions getting beat up, walks over by me, hits his head on the swords before running off in fright. I chuckle as I watch him go, then see the knight that was stuck get loose, yells and charges at the boy.

He in turn punches him in the stomach, grabs him, flips him onto his back and slams him into the ground. And as he gets up, his hat falls off and then something surprises me. He is actually a she.

"You're a girl," I ask in surprise.

"Yes she is," The old man says as he stands next to her. She straightens up, "We met the other day, but let me reintroduce ourselves. I am Master Kwan and this is Lin."

She smiles at me, puts her hands together and bows before me. I guess this is how they greet people, so I do the same.

"I'm Geoff."

Then I hear men yelling in the distance and turn around.

"We should leave this area," I hear Master Kwan say, but when I turn around, they are already gone.

"_How did they do that," _I think to myself as I run back up the hill to Drake.

"Drake! Drake! I'm being followed. You got to hide. If the guards see us, we're dead!"

"Dead? Dead," Drake asks in fear, "I don't want to die."

"What happening to you," I ask in concern as his tail, then his legs and body start turning to stone.

"Oh my," He says as his head turns to stone.

"After him," I hear the leader yells and runs towards us.

"Hello again," I say as I back up when he unsheathes his sword, "Nice day to run the horses, huh?"

"Where are the foreigners," He demands as he and the others surround me. This is getting dangerous. Now I wish I hadn't thrown that tunic away.

"Uh, I don't know," I truthfully tell him, "They disappeared."

"No one can just disappear," He darkly says as he points his sword to my chest and starts pushing me back, "Unless I make them."

I can feel the edge of the cliff on my heels. One more step and I'll be going over. I look over and it's a long way down. I can see a small stream down there, but also some sharp rocks as well.

"All right, I give up," I say and hold up my arms, "You can take me to the dungeon now."

"You're not getting off that easily," He smirks and says to me.

Next thing I know, he pushes me and I start falling. As I scream, the wind hits my face, and the ground comes closer, I see my life flashing before my eyes.

"_Kalias forgive me," _I think as I close my eyes.

Then I feel my shirt being tugged and being lifted up into the air.

"What," I ask as I look up and see Drake has ahold of my shirt and is flying!

"It's all right. I've got you," He smiles and says to me.

"Drake, you're flying!"

"Of course we're flying," He jokingly says as he flaps his wings, "How do you think we got way up here?"

"Oh this is great! Whoo-hoo!"

**(Back to Kalias' P.O.V)**

I sigh as I carry my basket back home. I wonder if Drake or Geoff is awake yet. It has been a long and busy day for me. As I head back home, I hear a familiar sound. It sounds like giant wings flapping, but that is impossible.

I look up and can feel my body turn cold. Now I wish I hadn't looked up. There, flying above the monastery, is Drake and it looks like he is carrying Geoff in his claws by his shirt.

"Oh great! How did he get out," I say to myself as I run to follow them, "This isn't happening. This is not happening."

For some reason, I can sort-of hear them arguing. I see Drake flying left and right and he almost drops Geoff for a moment.

"Excuse me! Pardon me! Oh sorry," I yell as I pass through a village and knocked someone's cart over in the process. I look up and see Drake starting to get tired.

"Drake! Angle your wings to glide down!"

I don't think he heard me because he slowed down and then dropped like a rock. I gasp and sped up my running. Luckily for me, I wasn't too far behind them. I climb over a hill and see Geoff emerging from a pile of straw.

"Geoff!"

"Kalias!"

"Are you ok? Are you hurt," I ask in concern as I run over to him and check him for injuries and then turn to Drake.

"I'm fine," Geoff says to me.

"So am I. I'm just tired," Drake says while panting.

Then I hear what sounds like angry villagers coming this way. I turn around and sure enough, here come a big group of them, all carrying spades and pitchforks at us. They had better not be thinking of harming my little brothers.

"Uh-oh, who's idea was it to scare them again," Drake sarcastically says to Geoff.

"You guys were scaring villagers?!"

"Uh, not intentionally Kalias. Drake start flying! Start flying!"

"I can't fly anymore. I'm exhausted."

"Geoff, start covering him with the straw," I tell him while covering up Drake's lower half with it.

"Ow, that got in my eyes," Drake exclaims.

"Sorry Drake," Geoff say to him and then turns to the villagers, "Hey did you see that dragon flying overhead Kalias?"

"Huh?"

"That really was amazing wasn't it," He say out loud to me and whispers, "Play along."

"Oh yeah, it sure was little brother, amazing. In fact, I saw him flying that way," I say and point to the east as the villagers come closer to us, "I doubt we will ever see him again."

"Get out of our way," One of the villagers yells, grabs me and throws me to another man, "He's in there. Get him!"

"NO! Don't you **dare **touch him," I yell, while in my head say, _"Sorry about this," _then I kick the leg of the man that was holding me, grab his pitchfork he used to hold me, twist it out of his hand, and run to the front of the straw pile.

"**Get back," **I growl at them and hold the pitchfork defensively at them.

It must have worked because they were looking at me with a scared expression and started backing up.

"Put those down," I hear a commanding voice ring out and see a man with black hair, mustache and beard on a white horse riding up to us.

"You heard him and my sister, put those down and get back! Can't you see this is," Geoff yells at them, pushes their tools away and points to the man, "Uh, who are you?"

"Lord Osric, chief advisor to the king," He says as he dismounts his horse and walks towards Drake, "And at your service, good dragon."

"He's a bit shy. His name's Drake," Geoff says to him.

"I- I mean, we are very pleased to meet you Drake and your friends here," He points to us.

"Geoff," Geoff says to him.

"Geoff. And may I have the pleasure of knowing the young lady's name," He smiles and asks me.

"Lady Kalias," I warily say to him. There's something about this man that doesn't feel right to me.

"Ah so this is the Lady Kalias I have heard so much about," He says to me and kisses my hand, "Your name is well known at the castle. The king speaks of you often."

"Thank you," I say as I pull my hand out of his.

"Drake, when the king saw your magnificent form flying overhead, he humbly requested a favor of service from you."

"Me," Drake shyly asks.

"Indeed. He wishes to appoint you 'protector of the realm'. Geoff and Lady Kalias will be adjunct protectors of the realm."

"Is that anything like a knight," Geoff asks him with interest.

"It's one step below," I tell him.

"Oh."

"As you can see, I was right milord," I turn and see Master Kwan say to Lord Osric.

"_What is he still doing here," _I wonder to myself, _"This guy just doesn't give up."_

"You two again," Lord Osric asks in annoyance and scoffs, "I thought you'd be intelligent enough to heed my advice and leave our kingdom. Guards!"

"_So he too told them to leave," _ I think to myself as the guards start to surround them.

"No," Geoff yells and gets in their way, "These are my friends."

"_Since when did he become friends with them," _I think to myself in confusion.

I see Lord Osric go over to Drake and say, "These people are from far away. See how different they are? They do not follow The Old Code. Do not trust them."

"He's right," Mansel says as he appears out of the crowd, "We should go home."

"Mansel," Geoff growls and pulls him away.

Drake growls, comes out of the straw and shakes it off him.

"Well if they're friends of Geoff and Kalias, they're friends of mine."

Then I see all eyes on me. Geoff and the boy are looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Yeah, they're friends of ours," I sigh and nod my head.

"Well then, they're welcome for as long as you want them to stay," Lord Osric says and bows to Drake, "I hope I will see you all at the castle tomorrow. The king is going to have a great celebration in honor of our new protectors of the realm."

"I don't know if we can make it," I tell him and turn to my brothers, "Besides I need to talk to our new 'protectors of the realm' in private."

They wince at the tone in my voice as I say that. I frown at them and grab both Drake's tail and Geoff's shirt.

"You two are going to go back to the monastery and wait for me in Drake's room. Mansel go with them."

He nods his head and pushes them back towards home. Those two look back at me and I give them a stern look and cross my arms. They put their heads down and keep walking.

"Lady Kalias, will you please reconsider attending the party. The king will be very disappointed if you or Drake can't come," He walks in front of me and pleads with me. "Now you wouldn't want to disappoint him would you? Please reconsider."

"All right, if only for Ethan. I haven't seen him in a long time," I sigh and nod my head.

"Excellent, I will get everything ready and tell the king you're coming. Till tomorrow then milady," He says with a smile and kisses my hand goodbye.

I smile back as I walk past him to go back home, but cringe inside. There's something about him that just screams danger. Something in his eyes directed at me. But I don't know why, when this is the first time the two of us have met. But something is telling me that he means to do me harm.

As I make my way make to the monastery, the events of today keep playing in my head. Why was Drake outside and why was Geoff with him? These events have changed everything. The comet is coming in less than a week and this is all I need. I don't know how or why Drake was outside, but I am going to find out.

**TBC**

**Author's Note: Uh-oh looks like those two are in trouble with Kalias again. And with the comet coming soon, she has her work cut out for her. Plus she has her suspicions about Lord Osric. Find out what happens next in Chapter 6. Please remember to review below. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you are enjoying this story so far. :D**


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